Phoenix Rising
by inspiredbychemistry
Summary: The Avengers found themselves divided in the face of a hidden enemy. It is up to the Black Widow to uncover those who benefit from the breaking up of the Avengers and it goes deeper than a broken victim of a Sokovian survivor. She would do anything to fix the only family she ever knew. Eventual,very slow burn Romanogers.
1. Chapter 1

_Sign the Accord. The Avengers must stand together._ \- NF

Natasha frowned as she read the little note. she had found it on her coffee table the day of the General's visit. That day he shook their very world with his pronouncement of what amounts mostly to blame.

She winced, not wanting to relive that day. Or the day after that. Or the one after that. Definitely not the day at the airport.

It has all gone to hell so quickly and so thoroughly. Had she ever entertained the idea of taking a different step than the one she did? Even had she not received the what pretty much amount to a directive from Nick Fury, a man whose shrewdness and insight she valued above all? Well,maybe not all. There was one other whose opinion she values maybe as much as -if not more than- Nick Fury's. And it was thoughts of Steve Rogers that usually prod her to second guess her decision to stick by the Accord.

She knew she disappointed him in defending the Sokovia Accords. She could see clearly the hurt in his eyes when she took Stark's side on that fateful day. Not to her surprise,it was not an easy thing for her to maintain her position, knowing what it's doing to him. Over the time since the fall of Shields to the catastrophy in Sokovia,she has formed a bond with Steve. One that went so far beyond the bond of friendship. One that, had she been born a different person, in a different time, she probably would not have hesitated to put a name on.

But she was never the type to wallow in what ifs. Or if she had,it has long been beaten out of her by the Red Room. In fact, had she been someone different, the decision would have been alot easier to make and stick to. Had she been anyone other than the Black Widow, she would have proudly stood next to Steve Rogers and weather the repercussions together as the allies they have always been.

But there was just too much red in her ledger. Too many lives snuffed by her effectively lethal hands. It matters little that none of what she had done in her dark past had been of her own choice. There was still so much to make up for. And even if their intentions had been unquestionably in the service of others in Sokovia, it does not change the fact that once again her actions led to loss of lives. Families broken.

She sighed. So no matter how badly her heart aches to stand by him, as they have stood by each other for so long and so strongly in the past, her choice has been sealed. It was accountability that she must fight for. The promise to put the civilians first above all else.

Standing up, she folded the little note and slip it in the backpack that now contains all that she has left. There was nothing more she could do for Steve Rogers. And even though she knows the words Tony threw at her after Rhodey's fall had mostly come from a place of betrayed anger, the truth remains that no matter how strongly she feels about the sanctity of the Sokovia Accords, after what she had done at the airport, the authorities were most likely out hunting for her by now.

She walked out of the dingy motel room she had been forced to spend the night in, zipping up her hoodie. Her unmistakably red hair is now blue black, and she looked more like a college student experimenting with the whole goth subculture than the fiery stone-cold ex-assassin that she is no longer allowed to be.

The Black Widow must disappear. But her mission is not yet over. Her reasons for signing the Accord, she knows inside out. Time now to hunt down the former Director of Shields to find out what his game was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Nice hair," – was the first thing that came out of Nick Fury's mouth when Natasha finally tracked him down.

It did not take her that long. She did not fool herself into believing that the ease with which she had managed to find Fury was solely down to her tracking skills. Not to say that she wasn't the best, which in all honesty she was. But this was _Nick Fury_. If he puts himself to it, no one could find him. After all, Hydra couldn't, with all their deep pockets. That she was able to a mere two weeks after she stepped from that motel room in Amsterdam, clearly indicated that the ex-director wanted to be found.

Natasha ignored his comment and plopped herself down to the empty chair opposite the one occupied by Fury. She looked around her and would have laughed out loud had she been in a better mood. What better place for Hydra's Enemy Number One to hide than in a hipster café in the middle of Paris.

"Should I bother asking what the hell you lot were thinking acting like a bunch of kindergarten children the minute their teacher turn her head? I mean, a goddamn battle at the airport? I thought I trained you better, Agent Romanoff," Fury barked out.

Natasha could have argued that in fact, Fury had not trained her. But that was beside the point. She was not here to discuss the airport disaster. Not when she agreed completely with the man. They _were_ acting like children. They _had_ been trained better. It was no use trying to explain to Fury that Tony and Natasha had only set out to stop Steve out of fear for him. If the UN were to order a NATO troop force, would they have refrained from shooting first and asking later. Just as everything the Avengers had ever done, the disaster at the airport started out with good intentions escalating to utter madness.

Instead she simply said, "It could have been a lot worst."

Fury snorted but did not deny the truth of her words. "Hard to imagine how, but I suppose the Captain is one stubborn son-of-a-bitch."

"Look, I got your note. I know you wanted us all to sign the Accords. But we need to respect the Captain's position. He just lost Margaret Carter. Bucky's his last link to 1945." She stated this matter-of-factly but felt her insides twist in another wave of guilt. The one time Steve needed her most, and she wasn't, couldn't, be there for him.

Silence followed her words and Natasha looked up, at once distracted from her thoughts. Now Nick Fury has one of the best poker faces Natasha has ever seen. And that's saying a lot considering all her life, she has been surrounded by people who lie and kill for a living. But reading people was what she does best. And she could tell that her words had caused a tiny frisson in the man's normally tough-as-nails exterior.

"Agent Romanoff, the last communication we had was at Agent Barton's farmhouse," he said quietly. "I sent you no note," he confirmed, in case she failed to understand what he was trying to communicate to her.

Natasha felt as if the ground was taken away from her and that she was suspended in mid air, with only gravity and her own will to prop herself up.

Her mind had been made up the day General Ross showed the clips of the devastations they had caused. When he recited the figures of the number of deaths in New York, Washington, Sokovia. It was sealed at the sight of the young man whose life ended much too early when he decided to spend his break helping the destitute Sokovians to have better homes.

But this does not mean that she never faltered in her decision. The look of hurt in the pair of blue eyes, that extra bite in Wanda's voice as she forced Natasha off of Clint at the airport, the way Sam avoided her eyes as they all marched towards each other, ready to cause hurt to the people they had spent years fighting alongside. All that and more had never failed to cause a tiny misgiving. An 'is this worth breaking the family for?' question she never manage to completely squash even with her own strong convictions that she was standing where she needed to be.

But always at the back of her head, additional justification for her actions came from that note she had mistakenly assumed to have come from Fury. It had given her confidence to stay strong. That if Nick Fury endorsed this course of plan, that she must be doing something right. Her life during and after the Red Room had not given her much room for choosing her own actions. She was not used to the idea of a self-motivated course of action that deep inside, she needed some kind of sign that she was doing the right thing. And the note had done that for her.

But Nick Fury did not send the note.

Cold, green eyes met with hooded brown ones. "Tony?" Fury enquired. "As a way to get you to sign?"

Natasha shook her head. "Stark's ego doesn't allow for him to even entertain the possibility that he could be wrong. He doesn't believe that anyone could have had a different point of view. He would not even have felt the need to stoop to manipulations," she stated quietly. In a much quieter voice, she added, "Especially not his friends."

Fury was quiet for a moment, appearing to be processing her words. Finally, after what felt like a long time, he looked up and met her eyes head on. "If it wasn't Stark or anyone else in the building, then we must assume that someone broke into the facility to plant that note. Someone who really wants the Avengers to sign the Accords."

She felt cold fear shaking through her body. And before she could put thoughts into words, Fury beat her to it. "The one million dollar question now is, what the fuck for?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Clint whipped out the binoculars and took another look around. It was 3 in the morning in Washington DC and he found himself perched on a roof of an apartment building, keeping an eye on one Steven Rogers. The thought _'I'm too old for this bullshit'_ crossed his mind more than once as he watched the younger man skillfully using the window ledges to climb to the third floor of the building across the street. This thought usually came hand in hand with 'I should be with my wife and kids.' But despite all his misgivings, he knew deep down that there was no way he could have said no when a friend asked for a favour. Especially not when that friend is Natasha Romanoff.

He sighed as he placed down the binoculars. _The cap's got this covered_. Relaxing a little, he leaned his back against the wall and recalled the conversation that started him on this godforsaken roof at three am in the morning, playing babysitter to the American icon. Well, former American icon now.

It was about a month ago that Natasha woke him and Laura up from deep sleep.

"He won't stop, Clint. I can't stop him." The trembling in her normally toneless voice succeeded in immediately waking Clint up.

"Nat?" Beside him, Laura stirred and he quickly placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Being married to an Avenger, Laura Barton was not a big fan of calls in the middle of the night. Especially since it usually lead to him suiting up and then returning back to her a few days later all broken and hurt.

He kissed her softly on the head, whispering, "It's ok, go back to sleep. It's just Nat." She nodded her head and sank back to sleep.

Clint climbed off the bed and put the phone back to his ears only to find out that Natasha had been talking the whole time, sounding even more frantic than when he'd first picked up the phone.

"… and now he's left with Sam to go after the Winter Soldier. Tony's trying to reason with Ross but there's no way they're not going to stand down on this."

\- "Nat, slow down. The last thing I know is that you were on a plane to Geneva. And who's left where?"

And that was how Clint found out about the whole business with the Winter Soldier. And how it succeeded in splitting the team into two, more than the Sokovian Accord ever did.

"Clint, I have never asked you for anything before. And I know this is a lot to ask, what with Laura and the kids…" -

\- "Ask it,Nat."

"Can you keep an eye on Steve, please, Clint? I need to be here and make sure there's someone else besides Tony to reign in the big guns. But I can't stand the idea of Steve and Sam on their own with no back-up up against the Winter Soldier." Her voice was shaking and not for the first time, Clint wondered at the depth of her feelings for the Captain. He has seen the way the two look at each other, as if they were having full conversations without having said a word. The occasional awed pride that laced his words whenever he shared stories about the things Natasha got up to in one mission or another. _"I mean, you should have seen her, Clint. There Sam is all puffed up about the two hostiles he'd managed to take down and then he turned around and what did he see? The whole hallway littered with men Natasha had brought down all in the space of the time it took him to struggle with two armed men! And the way Nat just smirked at him… it was priceless."_ It was something that they all noticed and has more or less accepted but never verbalized. There is always an 'and' when mentioning the Captain America and the Black Widow, even if the exact status of their relationship has never been defined.

So he more than anyone understood that for the Black Widow, for Natasha even, this was unprecedented. This deep need to look out for another person, that has nothing to be with balancing the red, was new. And the fact that she was not only acknowledging this connection but sharing it with him, more than anything signaled to him the depth of her desperation.

Knowing this, there was no way he could say no. And that was the main reason why he was out here in the middle of the night, keeping an eye out as Steve Rogers once more put his head on the line to rescue another person he thinks he has put in danger. He doesn't know the identity of this one, having entered the room at the end of the discussion between him and Sam about this particular mission. But from the anxious look in his eyes, and deep worry lines near his mouth, Clint reckoned this mysterious person must mean something to him. And as his eyes once again caught side of his blond head, this time matched with another long, blonde tresses of a woman he knew by sight, he let out a quiet curse.

"No fucking way," he breathed out as he watch Steve Rogers held Agent Sharon Carter tightly as he maneuvered her down the building. "This definitely put a new spin on things."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

 _The air was still ringing from the impact of the falling building. Smoke billows out and in the distance she could hear screams and shouts, the evidence that battle is going on. Inside her, a voice is screaming in utter panic._ _ **Why is this happening?**_ _It was barely even a month ago when most of the people now hitting, striking to maim the other were sitting back in the warmth of Barton's living-room. Laughing, tossing back a beer or two, watching in amusement as the Captain America was immersed in teaching Clint's eldest boy how to strike a heroic pose with the iconic shield_ _ **. We were a family**_ _, the voice inside Natasha screamed again._ _ **Why is this happening**_ _?_

 _Sounds of running footsteps shook her from her silent anguish. She looked up and watched as Steve and the Winter Soldier sprinted in her direction, heading for the helicopter behind her. As they caught sight of her, both slowed down, Steve with a grim expression on his face. As if steeling himself for a fight. Was he really steeling himself to fight her?_

" _You wouldn't stop," she stated as he reached her. She searched his face for some sign of hesitation, the same anguish she was feeling that this was what's become of them all. There was none and she felt a heaviness in her heart. Was this how it feels like to have your heart broken?_

" _You know I can't, Nat," he answered after a slight pause. And as he uttered her name, she could see maybe a small note of regret in his voice. At the corner of her eyes, she sees a black silhouette in the distance, making his way closer. And she made up her mind._

" _Then go," she said harshly, straightening her back as she got ready for another fight. Her eyes were locked at the figure of the Black Panther inching closer, and she missed the shaking breath of relief coming out of him. But she felt it just the same._

 _They quickly rushed past her but even as she heard the sound of the helicopter door opening, she felt a hand gripped her arm. "Come with us," his voice was harsh with pleading and for a second, she abandoned all her training and closed her eyes. Fighting the urge to turn and march alongside him. Leave this place, this fight and just be with him. Was there ever a time when Steve Rogers was not by her side? If there was she couldn't remember it now._

 _She shook her head, sadly and looked up to meet his pleading eyes. "I have to stand up for what I believe in, Steve. Just as you are doing."_

" _You can't tell me you believe in this. They want to rob us off of our control and freedom to act!" He grimaced and brought his face even closer. She felt crowded by his intensity for a second and fought the urge to bring them even closer, to seal this goodbye with something more than pleading looks and harsh words._

" _No, Steve. They're telling us to take responsibility for our actions. They're saying that there are laws that need to be respected. That groups of people cannot feel that they can do anything they want," she paused, taking a deep shaky breath, "including robbing orphans and training them to be killers."_

 _She watched as he frowned, about to refute her words but she shook her head, knowing that T'challa was going to be here any second. "We do not see eye to eye on this, Steve. But I know how much Bucky means to you. So go," she paused as his hand on her arm tightened. As if he was contemplating dragging her with him, against her wish. "I'll always have your back, Steve," she said when she could have said other words. Words that would commit, words that would have been perhaps closer to what she was feeling._

 _His blue eyes searched hers as if still waiting for her to change her mind. And that was the instant that the Black Panther emerged, claws out and feet rushing to reach them. Natasha, her reflex kicking in, shook away Steve's hand and with an insistent, "Go. Now!" whipped out her Widow's Bite and aimed it at the Black Panther._

 _She felt the moment Steve left her. Felt the emptiness, an immediate vacuum that felt all of a sudden alien to her, even though it has been her companion for so long. She heard the sound of the helicopter come to live and felt the sudden rush of air that accompanied it. But she was soon distracted from all of this as T'challa cast her a look of betrayal even as he jumped out to attack her._

 _Without hesitating, she shot him with the Widow's Bite. She countered his accusing glare with a shrug even as the helicopter started taking off behind them. "I said I'd helped you find him. I never said I'll let you catch him," she said simply as she shot another wave of energy as a last attempt to keep the Black Panther down._

"Don't hang up."

"Well, this is an improvement from my previous calls," Tony's voice drawled lazily after a telling brief silence. "Ross hasn't stop hounding me since our dear ol' cap went on a prison heist a week ago. I would have thought my putting him on hold to the sound of AC/DC would have loosened his resolve. But I gotta say, the man is nothing but persistent." Another small silence. " Did you have a hand in that, by the way?

Natasha sighed and adjusted her sunglasses. Tony and her has come along way from that first day at the boxing ring when she pretended to be Natalie Rushman, personal assistant. In that time, she has learned that the man can be every bit as obnoxious as he appeared to the world but that that was not all there was to him. She witnessed first hand the concern and worry he felt when the task force succeeded in catching Steve and Sam. She knew him well enough that even as he traded quips and condescending remarks with members of the Avengers, especially Steve, that deep down he would have laid down his life for every one of them, and in fact has done so in the battle of New York.

Which was why this show of mistrust strikes a chord deep inside her.

"Believe it or not, Stark, Captain America is perfectly capable of acting without my assistance."

\- "That's definitely news to me, considering how many times you've come to his aid. Berlin Airport, included, by the way."

"Fuck you, Tony. I didn't call to talk about Steve."

"I didn't know we _have_ anything else to talk about. Was that not you attempting to deep-fry Black Panther at the airport? I mean, sure, the image was a bit fuzzy but you're the only one with the red hair in my team, right? Or did you get confused between Black Panther and Hawkeye? I must admit, the black leather could.."

\- "Tony, I don't have time for this. We can rehash all the bad decisions we've made another time, alright? But right now, I need you to do me a favour and this involves all of us," she interrupted him, impatiently. She was using a burner phone to make the call but her training tells her that she still needs to keep the call short. She glanced around the bustling coffee shop. No one seems to be minding her any undue attention. For now.

"Where are you?" he demanded, his tone all serious now.

\- "You know I can't tell you that."

"Are you safe?"

She suddenly fought the urge to laugh. Safe was no longer a word that describes her life. If it ever did. Here she was, a fugitive, no longer allowed to claim her name and her identity, accused of violating the very law she fought to protect. But she didn't do this. Instead, she took a deep sigh and stated non-committedly, "Safe enough. Look, Tony, there's something weird going on here. I can't get into this with you over the phone but Fury and I…"

-"Fury? You're with Fury?"

"I _was_ with Fury. I left two days ago. And let me finish, okay?"

\- "Okay, okay."

"Okay, listen carefully. We think someone breached the facility the day of Ross's visit and left me a note in my room. I need you to check surveillance and see if there's anything on tape."

\- "Nat, the Avengers Facility has a state-of-the-art security system…"-

"… - which is even more worrying that someone could bypass it, don't you think?"

There was a short silence at the other end. "What did the note say?"

"The content of the note is not the important thing. What's important is the intention of the person or persons leaving the note and pretending to be Fury."

There was another silence, followed by a deep sigh. "Great, fine, I'll have Vision go over the surveillance. Gives him something better to do other than mooning over that long-haired Judas."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Just because they didn't agree with us, didn't make them Judases, Tony."

"Yeah, yeah, let's not get into this right now. How will I be able to reach you when, _if,_ we find something?"

She gathered her things and got ready to leave. "Don't call me, Stark. I'll call you," and hung up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Somewhere in downtown New York, three members of the X-Men were attempting to retrieve a briefcase suspected of containing biochemical weapon in a subway station. Identifying the location of the case, Shadowcat went into pursuit, passing through the tower blocks in her haste to get to it.

"Shadowcat, duck!" Iceman yelled as he sprayed a blast of ice to block the two men in shadow masks from attempting to escape.

Reacting to the order, Shadowcat let her body sank to the concrete floor to avoid the incoming ice. She got back up to the sight of two frozen bodies ahead of her, between herself and the abandoned suitcase.

"Piece of cake," Iceman bragged, with a self-satisfied grin and Shadowcat rolled her eyes in response.

"We've got incoming, guys!" Rogue's voice warned though the earpiece. She was eyes and ears on this mission. "Grab the suitcase quick and let's head on out of here."

Shadowcat voiced her affirmation and once again sprinted to her objective. She had one hand on the briefcase when she felt her world go black. She went down quickly, Iceman's screams of anger the last thing she heard before hitting the ground.

* * *

Natasha swallowed a curse as she quickly fished inside her backpack for her newly purchased phone. Her eyes were locked to the tv screen as she quickly dialed a number she has remembered by hard. Her jaws clenched as the newsperson recited the capture of 'three unidentified super powered' in downtown New York. How could this happen and why? The Sokovian Accords that she signed and upheld only restrained the hands of those who signed. What grounds do they have to act against three superheroes attempting to avoid a terrorist attack?

The phone rang for a long time before a harassed-sounding Tony Stark answered, sharply, "Not now, Nat!"

If anything this made her angrier. "Not until you explain to me what the fuck happened, Stark!"

"Do you really think I have a hand in this?" he retorted, angrily and even in her anger, she recognized the note of genuine disbelief in his voice. But she could not make sense of this.

"You expect me to believe that they managed to apprehend three enhanced without the help of the Avengers? Or what's left of the Avengers, anyway," she replied, sharply.

"Believe what you want, Romanoff. But I'm at the UN HQ right now, demanding the same answers you're seeking from me. And nobody seems to want to talk right now!"

"You're going to have to do better than that, Stark!"

"I'm fucking trying, believe me! Are you with me or not?" he asked suddenly.

Natasha fought the urge to roll her eyes. "This doesn't seem the time to discuss this, Tony!"

"I can't do this by myself, Nat. Your tip checked. We had an intruder just as you said. Look, I can't get into this right now. So I'm asking one last time, are you with me or with Cap?"

"Oh my god! Are we five right now? If I pick you, can I no longer be friends with…"

-"Let me make this clear, Nat. As you and Fury probably have figured out by now, something freaking big is going on right now. The UN is arbitrarily picking up super powered people they suspect of vigilante. Now, do you want to figure this out from within, by my side, or do you want to hedge your bets with the Cap and his band of renegades?"

Natasha took a deep breath. She's picked a side before, didn't she? It was easier before though when she knew she was backing up the voice of authority. The voice of law. The situation seems to have changed now. On one hand, her loyalty remains with Steve Rogers but he had his pick of friends and allies to back him up. Tony, on the other hand…

"Get them off my back, and we'll talk."

There was no hesitation on Tony's end. "Done," he agreed, quickly. "Keep your knives off my back this time, Widow." He hung up the phone, leaving Natasha to wonder if she's made the right choice.

* * *

Over in the secluded kingdom of Wakanda, the same news was the issue of a heated debate between Sam, Sharon and Clint. The latter threw his arms in the air in frustration, shooting a beseeching look to Steve, who stood with arms folded, listening to their arguments but not contributing his own.

"Cap, tell them Tony wouldn't do this!" Clint implored, eyes on Steve.

"Yes, because that scene at the airport was totally not his doing?" Sharon retorted, sarcastically. Sam pointed at her and nodded emphatically as if saying _yes, exactly_.

"She has a point, Clint," Steve stated, quietly.

Clint rolled his eyes in response to this and turned to face Sharon Carter head-on. "Look, I was there, okay? So you might want to bring the condescension down a notch," he replied in a similar tone of voice. "But in Stark's defense, we _were_ harbouring a terrorist. An _alleged_ terrorist," he corrected as Steve opened his mouth to say something. "But as far as Stark knew, Barnes was the only suspect in the Geneva bombing. When he knew different, didn't he come to you to give his support, Rogers?" He turned now to Steve and waited for his terse nod before continuing. "So there, different circumstances. For what it's worth, I don't think Stark did this," he insisted, waving his arm at the news displayed on the flat-screen tv.

"Regardless of who did what, we've got to do something to retaliate against this!" Sam argued further. "I mean, come on, man, they're just kids!"

Clint watched as Steve's jaw clenched at this. He knew that the captain was sensitive about the issue of apprehending underage super powered, case in point Wanda. Clint sighed inwardly, knowing that his promise to Natasha to keep Steve Rogers safe just got a whole lot harder. He steeled himself for what he knew was coming and sure enough, Steve Rogers stated calmly, "We'll just have to figure out how to set them free."

Clint let out a heavy sigh and kept his eyes on the elaborate ceiling of Tchalla's penthouse, currently occupied by Steve. Making up his mind suddenly, he looked sharply at Steve. "Fine, but we're gonna need Nat's help." It might have been his imagination but he thought he saw Steve's eyes quickly shot guiltily in Sharon's direction at the mention of Natasha's name.

"Natasha's with Stark, Barton," Sam stated in disbelief.

Clint rolled his eyes at the obtuseness of the man. "Let's ignore for a moment that Nat let Rogers and Barnes escape the airport," he started, sarcastically. "I know for a fact that Nat never really took a side between Stark and Rogers to begin with."

This time he knew he did not mistake the hopeful gleam in his eyes as Steve turned sharply at his words. "What do you mean?"

"She's the only reason I'm here, man," he said, with a non-apologetic shrug. "She told me to keep an eye on you."

"Spy on him, you mean?" Sharon interjected, sharply.

Clint turned to her and rolled his eyes. "No, Agent Carter. To keep this one's ass," he pointed at Steve," from being kicked, okay? If you knew Natasha, you would have known that for her, loyalty trumps everything. She might not agree with what brought us here in hiding in the first place, but you sure as hell can believe that her primary objective remains our safety."

He was relieved to see Steve nod his head at this. "Do you have a way of reaching her?" he asked, his voice holding a note of what sounds like a hint of resentment that Clint might know more about Natasha then he does.

Clint shrugged. "Not directly, no. But I'm familiar with her usual hidey-holes. I can probably…"

\- "Don't bother," a new voice interrupted as T'challa stepped in the room. "I just got a call from Tony Stark. He wants me to rescind my report on the Black Widow and I agreed. She's being reinstated as an Avenger as we speak."

Clint kept his eyes on Steve and did not miss the look of disappointment he tried to hide in his blue eyes.

T'challa shrugged and looked around at Sam, Sharon, Clint and lastly Steve. "We'll just have to do this without her."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Natasha entered her old room in the Avenger Tower with a heavy heart. It wasn't long after their phone call that she received word that Black Widow has been 'exonerated'. In fact, she couldn't have missed it, considering T'challa's press conference withdrawing his suit against her was displayed in every news channel. Natasha saw not only Tony's hand in this. The world leaders, too, must be anxious to distract everyone's attention from the capture of whom everyone now know to be members of the elusive X Men, a group of mutants under the protection of Professor Xavier. From Tony himself, she knows that behind the scenes, the UN was being bombarded with visits not only from Professor X himself, but also Dr Hank McCoy Secretary of Mutant Affairs, both vehemently protesting the continuing imprisonment of the X Men youngsters, all to no avail. The UN, the Security Council, in particular, stood by their decision to capture the youths as part of their overall defensive objective against groups of super powered refusing to abide by the Sokovian Accords. Tony and her suspected a darker hand in this but as of yet was powerless to act without more comprehensive info.

She sighed as she placed her backpack on her coffee table, surveying the overall Spartan condition of her apartment. She was never one to settle down in one place, thus never felt the need to surround herself with things that offer her comfort. At first glance, her Avenger apartment reflected this. But as she walked around her bedroom, her eyes caught sight of the arrow necklace on her dresser, one given to her from Clint on her first successful mission as an official member of SHIELD. Near her bed, first thing she saw every time she woke up, was the framed picture of her uncharacteristically laughing standing next to a grinning Steve Rogers. It was a Christmas gift from Wanda who upon her opening the wrappings and seeing the picture just shrugged and stated matter-of-factly, "You need to laugh more." She felt a pang in her heart as she remembered the younger girl and how easily she has wormed her way into her heart.

She was shaken from her nostalgia by the sound of the door opening. She turned around in time to see Tony Stark strolling in lazily, a folder in his right hand. "Welcome home, honey, did ya miss me?" he retorted, drily. "No, wait. I want a do-over. Did you join a goth club when you were gone?" He gestured to her hair and Natasha rolled her eyes. "I believe calling in my hairdresser is priority number one?"

"Can it, Stark. It served its purpose, didn't it?"

He shrugged as he sat himself down on the only sofa in Natasha's living room. "But it's still going right? Otherwise I'm gonna have to come up with new names for you besides 'Red'. And you know my plate is just about full at the moment."

Natasha sighed and leaned herself against the doorway between her bedroom and the living-room and met his eyes, noting the worry lines and bloodshot eyes. "It's bad, isn't it?"

He shrugged but kept his eyes on her. "Not defcon level bad. Well, not yet anyway. Meeting tomorrow night, tentatively, and I'll appraise you and everyone else on what I know so far."

Natasha frowned at that. "Tomorrow? Tony, I'm here now. Why wait?"

"Ah, well now we come to the reason I'm here, unless you count making fun of your hair as a reason. Which I absolutely do, by the way," he drawled, as he stood up and handed him the folder. "Your first mission back as a full-fledged Avenger."

Natasha opened the folder to see Dr Banner's face staring up at her. She looked up, catching Tony's eyes. "I don't understand," she said slowly.

He slipped his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Inside the folder, you'll find several possible locations where Banner has been sighted recently. I wish it was as easy as 'Find-my-Iphone'-ing the guy but the man is strangely adept at going off the grid for someone with a bio-medical background. " He paused to gauge Natasha's reaction then continued, almost defensively. "Big things are about to happen, Nat. And I don't know if you notice, but our side is a bit low on manpower, right now. I mean, literally, we have a hobbling War Machine, a what can only be described as a 'depressed' semi-sentient, and a high school student moonlighting as a crime-fighting spider. So, yes, finding Banner is priority number one. Well, number two after fixing that disaster of a hair, of course."

Natasha glared at him, and decided to ignore the rest of what he said. "So you want _me_ to look for him and bring him back?" she asked, incredulously.

"Hey," he started, as he turned to open the front door, "you broke it, you deal with it." And wisely closed the door before Natasha could do anything.

Natasha took a deep, shaking breath and sank on the sofa, recently vacated by Tony. She leaned her head against the sofa and muttered, "Oh _fuck_."

* * *

Natasha steeled herself as she started taking off in the Avenger jet aircraft. This was one mission she felt herself not looking forward to. A memory from happier times came unbidden. It was an uncharacteristic afternoon at the Avengers common room, and Natasha and Wanda found themselves with no training, or debriefing, or team meeting on strategies and they were just hanging out. Natasha flipping through a tabloid magazine, probably left behind by Tony for Steve to use for 'information gathering into the 21st century', while Wanda was absorbed in painting her toenails.

" _So," Wanda began, eyes focused on her task, "you and Steve." She stated this matter-of-factly as if she was stating an obvious fact rather than a question. Natasha was amused at this reminder of how much like her Wanda was. Never once to mince words, she gets straight to the point without meandering through meaningless words._

" _Yes, Wanda? What about me and Steve?" Natasha asked, giving the girl a fond look._

" _You care for each other," she stated, again in that tone of voice that does not seem to leave room for argument._

" _Of course we care about each other, Wanda."_

 _\- "Not that way. You_ _ **really**_ _care for one another."_

 _Natasha found herself rolling her eyes and was about to say of course they do when Wanda ignored her and continued to make her point. "And he worries about you. He thinks that your heart is broken. Because Dr Banner left."_

 _Natasha was silent now, her jaw unconsciously clenching. Bruce Banner was a sensitive subject with her. But not for reasons everyone seems to think. To the other members of the Avengers, she must keep up the façade of a jilted love. For the truth formed an uglier picture, a lot less romantic, one that she must keep to herself._

 _Bruce Banner, in truth, was her failure. A failed mission. He was an assignment for her coming from Nick Fury himself when he was still the Director of SHIELD and founder of the Avengers Initiative. It turned out that psych evaluation on Dr Banner suggested that he was the least likely of all of them to commit to the Avengers. Stark has his newly-acquired political and moral consciousness, Natasha her drive to balance her ledger and Steve his perpetual inclination to right wrongs. Banner was a loose piece, one that needs to be anchored to the team. And Natasha was to provide the anchor._

 _That was not to say she does not care for Banner. Which she did. He was one of the smartest men she has ever met and that's saying a lot considering her line of work. Besides that, she finds his normally muted personality interestingly at odds with 'the other guy'. So it was never that difficult to form a connection, a bond, with him. It was never supposed to escalate to more though, and she actually has the current occupant of the room to blame for that. The visions of her time at Red Room had really done a number on her emotions that she lost sight of her objective and was compromised for a moment._

 _But how was she supposed to articulate this to this young woman before her. How was she supposed to maintain Wanda's trust in the team if she learns the truth? She was aware that for all the hardship and suffering that Wanda's gone through, she has yet to truly abandon the rose-tinted glass through which she viewed the world. That was probably why she gets along so well with Steve. They had both been kicked around by life and yet still managed to remain resiliently optimistic in their views._

" _He does not see that Banner is different," Wanda's voice shook her out of her contemplation and she turned to give the girl a sharp look. Does she see more than she let out? "He does not see that your smile is different when he says something funny to cheer you up. Less, how do you say this in English, rusty? Like you smile with your eyes, not just with your lips, when you look at him."_

 _Natasha closed her magazine with a loud snap. "What is the point of all this, Wanda?"_

" _I just… I just want you to know, I guess. I mean, you've been taking care of me, Tasha. Ever since Sokovia. Both you and Steve. And you accepted me as one of your own as if I have never done wrong to you. To all the Avengers."_

 _Natasha rolled her eyes, affectionately. "We are none of us saints ourselves, you dope. Who am I to judge? I have done far worst things in my life than you could ever imagine."_

 _Wanda shook her head, seemingly forgetting her freshly painted nails as she brought her feet down to the floor and leaned forward as if using her whole body to drive the next point across. "No, no, you always do this. You always make yourself appear to be so undeserving. It is why I want you to see. Because you deserve a win, Tasha. You do."_

 _Natasha let out a forced chuckle, wanting to lighten the mood, increasingly comfortable with the direction in which this conversation is going. "Wanda, Steve and I are partners. And we are good at being just that for each other. Period."_

 _Wanda shook her head, sadly. "Tasha, he made_ _ **piroshki**_ _just last week because you once mentioned that it was the only thing you remembered from your time before the Red Room. He even had Tony help him searched for the recipe on the internet because let's face it, Steve is still so shit at the technology, eh?" They both laughed at that._

" _That's just because he's such a sap, Wanda."_

" _No," Wanda said quietly, laughter dying as she leaned back against the couch. "It's because he wants to see you smile. Because he always wants to see you smile." She shrugs suddenly, giving Natasha a mischievous look. "Who knows? Maybe deep down he knows that you smile at him different too."_

 _Natasha rolled her eyes again and playfully slapped her with the magazine in her hand. "If I knew what an annoying little match-maker you turn out to be, I might have been less friendly with you."_

 _It was Wanda's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh, please. You love me, Tasha." She tapped her head with one brightly-coloured finger, "Mind-reader, remember?"_

A small smile played on her lips as she recalled that day, and not for the first time she felt such deep longing for not just Wanda, but for each and every one of the now estranged members of her team.

She sighed and kept her eyes determinedly ahead. Start with Banner first. She will bring them all back home as soon as she possibly could.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Four**

It was the third location on Stark's list, and it was Burma this time, not India. It took just a couple of flashing his photo around before she was driven to an isolated hut in the middle of nowhere. Gesturing her thanks to the helpful young man, she fished a couple of Ks and handed them over before stepping out of the rickshaw. She surveyed the shack before her and headed straight for where the sound of pounding seems to be coming from.

Stepping into a wide space, her eyes captured the simple bed at one corner. The entire room, however, seemed to be consisted of long tables littered with various flasks and tubes and other scientific paraphernalia. Her eyes finally settled on the figure huddled over a microscope at the far corner of the room and she took a deep breath before attempting to speak out. But Bruce Banner beat her to it.

"What are you doing here, Natasha?" he asked, simply without even turning around to face her.

She waited for her nerves to settle before replying, instead making her way slowly towards him. She forced out a dry chuckle. "Can't you take a proper break like most normal people do?" she said instead in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He turned around and fixed her with a pointed stare. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that. Once I get a handle on the whole turning green and being a danger to humanity thing," he said, drily as he slowly peeled off the disposable gloves from his hands.

"Danger to aliens, too," Natasha quipped, flashing him her trademark smirk. "And self-righteous robots."

He shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips but his eyes remained hard as he continued to watch her. "And what is it this time, Natasha? Aliens or robots?"

Natasha dropped her lighthearted façade at the piercing question. She shrugged, "I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that."

Bruce snorted, shaking his head, "It always is, isn't it, Natasha? And I gather you you've been sent to retrieve _the other guy_ , which by the way I'd just like to comment on the balls of that person who actually believe that it was a good idea to send _you_ to get _me_."

\- "Tony sent me."

"Of course it's Tony," he said with a laugh, not completely without humour this time. "Well, you can tell Tony that I don't do this anymore. And anyway, you've got the other Avengers to, how would you phrase it, 'fight the good fight', don't you?"

"That's just it, Bruce," said Natasha, keeping her eyes locked on him. "We don't have the whole Avengers. It's just Tony and me. And Vision. Well, four, if you count the seventeen-year-old Tony recruited recently. Four and a half, counting Rhodey and his broken back."

Bruce frowned at this and leaned his body forward, as if feeling himself sucked in against his will. "What happened? Where's Cap? Thor? And Hawkeye?"

Natasha grimaced, trying to brace herself for a full explanation of how things turned to shit. "Thor has been incommunicado since leaving for Asgard after Sokovia. And Cap and Hawkeye…," she took a deep breath, "It's sort of a long story and I know this is not what you want to hear, but the sooner you get on the jet, the sooner we can brief you on what's been going on."

Bruce shook his head, laughing drily as he took a step back. "I never said I'd go with you, Natasha."

Natasha clenched her jaw, looking away, searching for the right words to convey how dire the situation was at home. Not finding anything, she just shook her head and locked her green eyes with his. "Do you really think I'd be here if the situation wasn't so urgent?"

He searched her eyes for a full second before asking, quietly, "How bad is it, Natasha?"

She did not even hesitate, "Bad, really bad."

* * *

"I have a bad feeling about this, Cap," Clint muttered into his earpiece as he adjusted the oxygen mask.

"I've done this once before, Barton. And I didn't have backup the last time," Steve replied calmly.

"Precisely why I got a bad feeling. You think they wouldn't have vamped up their security since our last prison break?" he asked, skeptically.

Steve's eyes reflected none of the nervousness that Clint was feeling. "T'challa reassured me that the floor plan we have is the latest one. Yes, they've up their security but fortunately for us, we have an inside person," he said with a reassuring nod, meaning Tchalla whom no one yet suspected of harbouring the most wanted group of super powered.

Clint gave a resigned sigh. "Okay, cap. You lead, I follow," he said and waited for Steve to jump before taking the plunge himself into the deep water.

The X men detainees were being held in the same underwater prison that Steve had broken him out of. T'challa had shared with them detailed plans of the prison, noting the areas with heavy security. They have gone over the plan over and over, until everyone was confident that there was no loophole. Basically, Steve and Clint, as the most experienced of the fugitive Avengers would be do doing the infiltrating and rescue mission. Wanda, Sam and Sharon would serve as standbys at strategic posts, away from the main action but close enough to assist in case the plan went south. They have all decided that T'challa should sit this one out, considering the UN and the US government still believe that the Black Panther was not in any way affiliated with them. Antman was in the wind, and has been since the day Steve broke them out. They all understood his need to stay close to his daughter, a sentiment Clint was inclined to more and more these days. He reassured himself with the thought that this might well be his last mission. That Steve would agree to lay low once they've succeeded in freeing the X Men kids.

But Clint could not ignore the heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ten minutes later, Steve and Clint climbed up on the platform connecting to the underwater prison, taking care not to be noticed.

"Cap, status report," – Sam's voice came through loud and clear through the earpiece.

"We're on board. I'll go on ahead and scout for guards," the Captain quietly reported and with a nod to Clint, went forward.

Clint kneeled and crouched against the wall, eyes on guard for any movement.

"All clear, Hawkeye."

Upon hearing that, Clint began to quickly and lithely climb for the highest tower ahead. Without hesitation, he took down the one solitary guard. As he took his post on the roof, he skillfully let loose his arrows on three more guards, making sure to aim the tranquilizer-filled tip on their arms so as to minimize fatality. He barely had time to reach for another arrow before he felt a sudden onslaught of what felt like cold steel binding his arms together. He looked down with a frown to watch in disbelief at the strands of webs locking his arms.

"So sorry about this, man," came a voice to his left side and he turned to find himself face-to-face with the kid in the spider mask.

Clint was however quick to react as he aimed a powerful kick to the kid's groin area. "Not as sorry as I am about _that,"_ he retorted as Spiderman went down to his knees with a sound of agony.

But Clint did not wait, instead he made use of the sharp edge of the roof to loosen the spider knot. He then shot a rope arrow on the next building, using this to swing down to the deck, running as soon as his feet hit the ground. "It's a trap, Cap! We've gotta go. Now!" he yelled out.

"Negative. Not until we've got the kids ou…-umph."

"Cap?" Clint paused, waiting for the Captain to respond.

Sounds of fighting ensued. "Cap? Hawkeye?" Sam's voice yelled out. "Scarlet Witch! Agent 13! Are you on the move?"

"Already on my way, Sam," Wanda replied.

"It's a trap, Falcon," Clint bellowed as he caught sight of Captain America trying to fight off bolts of currents aimed in his direction by Ironman, the shield newly developed by T'challa firmly in his hand.

"The Avengers were waiting for us!" If it felt funny to be referring to the Avengers and not meaning himself, he was past caring as he equipped his bow, and let loose an explosive arrow that found it's target to the wall next to Ironman. It immediately let off an explosion that caused Ironman to spin backwards in the air, allowing Captain America to pick himself up.

"Lucky shot, Hawkeye!" Ironman called out, tauntingly and Clint rolled his eyes. Just as at the airport, there was a surreal sense to their fighting. They were trading punches and shooting explosives at each other but it felt far from real. Like as if they were a bunch of eight-year-olds and playing war.

This impression was quickly shattered as Captain America launched himself straight at Ironman and immediately started pummeling the latter in between frustrated grunts. "They're just kids, Tony!"

That shook Clint from his minor paralysis and he remembered his objective. Without a second look at the two former teammates, he sprinted in the direction of the metal door and made his way into the dome prison. He did not slow down once he was inside, doing quick work of the four-five guards heading in his direction. At the back of his head, a suspicious thought was telling him that the whole thing felt too easy. In fact, with the exception of Ironman and Spiderman, none of the guards they encountered really put up much of a fight. But he pushed these thoughts aside and focused on releasing the three superheroes.

Once he reached the circular room, it was a matter of inputting the correct sets of numbers into the control panel as instructed by Tchalla, releasing the iron doors to the cells.

"Are you kids okay?" he asked, grabbing hold of the slight figure the closest to him.

"Yeah, yeah, just need to get out of here," the only boy among the three replied, one arm around another girl, this one with a single strand of silver hair.

"Fantastic. Now follow this way, please," Clint directed, not waiting for them to reply.

They were almost out of the building when Vision appeared to block their way. "I am sorry, Hawkeye, but I simply cannot let you through," he said as apologetically as a former A.I could get, which Clint has to admit, was pretty much.

"Not a problem," the tiny girl cracked and Clint watched as she became intangible, allowing her to pass through Vision. Had the situation not been so urgent, Clint would have laughed at the irony of someone doing to Vision the very thing he repeatedly do to others. Evidently Vision felt the same way judging from the perplexed look on his face. This minute distraction allowed the boy to quickly aim a spray of – ice? Really?- that succeeded in freezing the android where he stood.

"Neat trick," Clint remarked, seriously impressed then shook himself and started leading them onward again. "But it won't work for long with this one. Quick!"

As they made their way outside, the sight that greeted them was grim indeed. On one side, Ironman was fending off Captain America and Falcon who were not in any way pulling their punches. Far away, he could see Agent 13 incapacitated by Spiderman's special web. Scarlet Witch, on the other hand, seemed to be holding her own, sending waves after waves of energy that was repeatedly pushing Spiderman back.

Clint breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed they were going to pull this off after all. As soon as he was thinking this, however, he could hear the sounds of armed men taking positions surrounding them. He allowed himself a grunt of disbelief. Do they really think an army of regular, armed men can succeed where Ironman, Spiderman and Vision seemed to be failing?

Wanda verbalized this thought when she yelled out, "You really believe you can take us down?"

Just as she was saying this, a loud _thumph_ could be heard in the distance. The hair at the back of Clint's head stood on end at the sound. The ground shook repeatedly and he experienced a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach.

Sure enough, with a gravity-defying leap that shook the earth upon landing, the Incredible Hulk stood in the middle of all the fighting and let out a big roar.

"Oh, _fuck_ ," Clint muttered, and braced for the fight of his life.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

" _Nat? You busy?" Steve poked his head in her room. She was in the middle of finalizing her monthly report on Wanda's performance progress. Looking up, she gestured for him to come in._

" _Five minutes," she replied, turning her attention back on her notebook and Steve stepped in. "What's up, Rogers?"_

 _Instead of answering, he slid into the space beside her on the couch and stole a look at her report._

" _I'm worried about Wanda," he finally spoke out, with a sigh._

 _Natasha frowned but kept her focus on her report._

" _Nat!" he called out, his shoulder playfully hitting hers. "Are you even listening?"_

" _Oh, I'm sorry. I heard "worried" and automatically assumes that that is a common ailment among the elderly," she cracked, smirking up at him. He turned to her with a frown but his eyes crinkled with humour._

" _Great, more old jokes," he retorted, but his mouth shaped into an affectionate smile._

" _On the contrary," Natasha said, her eyes turning back to her screen, "I would never make fun of my elders," she quipped, flashing him an angelic smile that widened when he rolled his eyes._

" _Seriously, Nat," he insisted after a moment of silence, "About Wanda."_

 _With a sigh, Natasha placed her hand to close her laptop and turned her full attention on him. "Okay, fine, you have my attention. What_ about _Wanda?"_

" _I just… I mean, all she does all day is train," Steve said, folding his arms and leaning his head against the back of the couch._

" _Exactly why I'm putting an 'Excellent' on this here box that says ' motivation'," Natasha replied, gesturing to the report she was in the middle of doing on her laptop._

 _Steve shrugged and was silent for a moment. "But that's not exactly normal for a teenage girl, right?" he asked, turning his head to look at her._

" _Asking the wrong girl, Cap," Natasha said, not unkindly, alluding to her own less than stellar experience. Her own adolescence had been all about being groomed to become the Black Widow._

 _He gave a start as if remembering that Natasha's past was never all sunshine and rainbows either. Uncomfortable by the sudden intimacy brought on by her mention of her past, she turned away and turned her attention to her hands instead._

" _All the more reason to make sure that Wanda gets a different, happier upbringing, don't you think?" he asked, softly._

 _Natasha laughed, drily. "You make us sound like her parents, Steve," she said, amused._

 _Steve chuckled, but his cheeks flushed. After a moment, he said with a shrug, "Who else does she have?"_

 _She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not exactly the stuff good mothers are made of, Cap," she said, bitingly._

 _He held her eyes and once again touched her shoulder with his. "I think you do okay so far. Wanda looks up to you. Even made a joke about me and my old age the other day. Must have picked it up from someone."_

" _If you're recalling that day she called you 'old man' after you referred to her music as random noise, that's just you asking for it," she retorted drily, and smiled when his shoulders shook in concealed laughter. Their eyes met and held again in shared memory._

" _Okay, fine," Natasha, said, finally to break the once again easy silence that fell between them. "I'm sure you already have something in mind, am I right?"_

 _He nodded his eyes and grinned, proudly. "Nat, come on. I'm always the man with a plan."_

 _And that was how Natasha found herself tightening the laces on her bowling shoes two nights later. Of course Steve Rogers's plan would involve some outdated form of social outing, she thought with fond resignation. Looking over her shoulder, she spied him excitedly making swinging hands gesture to Vision who, bless his heart, is actually paying rapt attention._

" _This is not your idea, is it?" Wanda said with a sigh as she sat down beside Natasha, her eyes eyeing the bowling pins with a mixture of distaste and trepidation._

" _What gave it away?" Natasha asked with a wicked smile._

 _Wanda laughed and shook her head. "You didn't have to do this. I am sure you have more important things to do than play a silly game of bowling," she continued, looking down at her feet._

 _Natasha turned to look at the girl. "Hey," she said, and waited for Wanda to meet her eyes," the time I think of us simply as a team has long past." She shrugged, turning to look at the three men only to find Steve looking at her with a grateful smile on his face. "We're a family, Wanda," she said, firmly turning back to the girl. "And this is what families do…- right?" Natasha grimaced and pretended to make a face and Wanda burst out laughing._

 _Two games later, Natasha was surprised to find herself actually enjoying the outing. She watched in amusement as Wanda playfully pushed against Vision just as he was in the act of throwing the ball. Sam hooted and exchanged high fives with Wanda as Vision looked on in dismay at his gutter-ball. Natasha laughed as Wanda flashed her a mischievous grin. She shook her head, grinning back, but then realized that Steve was nowhere around. Searching around the crowded alley, she finally caught sight of him, waiting in line at the refreshment stand. Looking at him more closely, she noticed the flush spreading up his neck and looked around for the reason for his discomfort. She let out a chuckle as she spot a group of women seated at a nearby table sending appreciative looks in Steve's directions. Natasha could hardly blame them. The man was practically a walking sex advertisement with those tight, rippling muscles barely contained by his grey t-shirt and Levi's jeans._

 _Her good humour faded as one of them, a blonde, stood up and walked predatorily in Steve's direction. Frowning, she watched as the woman struck up a conversation with him. Steve, on the other hand, appeared flustered as she started giggling and looking up at him suggestively. A niggling sense of anger flared up inside Natasha at the forwardness of the blonde and how uncomfortable she was making Steve. Making up her mind to intercede, she stood up and headed in their direction._

" _Hey," she murmured, flirtatiously as she snaked her arm around his waist. To his credit, Steve outwardly refrained from showing signs that he was taken by surprise though she felt his body tightened at her touch. "I was looking for you," she purred, flashing him an intimate look, ignoring the other woman completely. His face as he looked down at her showed no indication of his feelings but the twinkling in his blue eyes told her that he was amused by the show she was putting on._

" _Is she your girlfriend?" the blonde woman asked, a note of dismay not so hidden in her voice._

 _Natasha pretended to only then realized the presence of the other woman. "Oh, who's this, malysh?" she asked in syrupy voice, her head tilting to one side as she looked at the blonde._

 _Steve cleared his throat, hiding an amused grin, replying, "Nat, this is Dianne. She's a journalist. She wanted an interview with the Captain America."_

" _I'm sure she does," Natasha murmured, flashing a calculatingly fake sweet smile at the blonde. She then turned beseeching eyes to Steve. "Not tonight, right, sweetie?"_

" _Er,.." Steve stuttered, awkwardly and Natasha resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Steve's inability to be impolite._

 _-"Oh my god, Captain America is dating the Black Widow?" the blonde exclaimed, suddenly and Natasha flinched inwardly. All her life she has taken comfort in anonymity, never staying the same person for very long. Events in Washington had robbed her of this security and she was still struggling to get used to being recognized._

 _Before Steve and her could even reply, the woman quickly rushed away, the novelty of being the first to tell her friends this juicy piece of gossip speeding her departure._

" _Wow, I'd say you've had a close shave but it's almost insulting how quickly she lost interest," Natasha retorted, drily, as she slid her hand away from Steve and moved a step away._

 _Steve eyed her, gingerly. "Shouldn't you be more concerned that there'll be rumours about you and me all over the internet?" he asked._

 _Natasha burst out laughing, though not wholly from amusement. "No one is going to believe that for a second, Cap."_

 _His eyes turned to look at his feet and Natasha could see a frown forming. After a short silence, he turned to look at her and asked, quietly, "Why not?"_

 _Had Natasha been less in control of her emotions, she would have flushed at the question and the intense way in which it was delivered. Instead she pretended a lightness that she didn't really feel and shrugged. "In what universe is a trained killer a suitable mate for Captain America?"_

 _At her words, his eyes snapped to her face and her breath faltered at the growing furiousness there in the blue orbs. He looked at her almost in disbelief. "You are not an evil person, Nat," he snapped, in a voice that bode no argument._

" _I have done things in my past that if you knew about would have made you look at me differently, Steve," she replied, matter-of-factly._

" _Nat, the first thing Fury did when he recruited me to the Avengers Initiative was to give me everyone's files to read. I know what you've done in the past. More importantly, I know what was done to you to make you do those things," he said firmly, eyes never leaving hers. "And, Nat? There's nothing you could do that would make me look at you different," he finished._

 _Natasha was speechless, not ever having been the recipient of such intense loyalty. All she could make out in response was a breathless, "Oh, yeah?" And suddenly Natasha became aware of how closely they were standing. And from the darkening in his eyes, she sensed his awareness too. Their eyes locked and she felt him moving even closer, so close that if she were to raise her head, her lips would have touched his. The sudden realization that she wanted to do precisely this caused her heart to pound and her brows puckered in confusion. Seeing this, Steve slowly brought a hand to smooth the lines and the gentle touch of his hand on her skin brought a pool of heat to settle in her body. His head lowered and she closed her eyes in unconscious response, waiting for the touch of his lips on hers._

 _\- "You're going down, Rogers! Two strikes in a row! I'm so the man!" Sam's loud voice broke the spell and Natasha's eyes opened instantly to see an oblivious Sam boisterously making some dance moves in celebration._

 _Natasha took a shaky breath and cursed herself for her rashness. Kissing Steve Rogers was never something she planned to do. With other men, the act of kissing was probably the least significant things she could do. But kissing Steve would never be insignificant. He was already the person she started the day with, usually as she perched herself up on the kitchen table reading the news on her tablet as he make his special pancakes. He was already that person whose face she would turn to in shared amusement whenever Vision attempted his awkward courting of the oblivious Wanda, or whenever Thor's sometimes exaggerated ignorance of anything Midgard would lead to a tic forming on Tony's face, or during the numerous times Sam supposedly helpful suggestions that Clint pick up a more '21_ _st_ _century' weapon. He was already that person she usually ended her day with, sometimes going over reports or coming up with new strategies, or at times when things quiet down helping Steve update his grasp on popular culture by watching movies together before Natasha inevitably falling asleep on the warmth of his shoulder. In fact, Natasha felt a growing sense of horror at how deeply intertwined her everyday life already was with Steve's. Anything more and she would have broken the most important rule of survival ingrained in her in the Red Room; never ever form an attachment. Attachment leads to distraction. And distraction get you killed._

 _With these thoughts firmly in mind, she avoided Steve's eyes and left him to head over to the others. She was greeted to the sight of a furious Wanda who looked as if she was ready to murder Sam. For the rest of the night, Natasha regained her composure and kept a steady tone every time she replied to Steve's attempt to draw her into conversations, his eyes constantly seeking hers. And if she derived some satisfaction every time Wanda discreetly used her powers to send Sam's ball off-kilter and into the gutter, she chalked this up to a sense of gratification that the night's outing had succeeded in providing the girl with diversions from the seriousness of their work._

They were flying over the Pacific Ocean when the news reached them.

"Red?" Tony's voice had a slightly manic tone to it that immediately made her nervous. "Did you find Banner? Coz I could certainly use him right about now."

"What's going on, Tony?" Natasha snapped the same time Bruce replied, "I'm here, Tony."

Ignoring her, Tony bellowed, "Ah Banner, I wish I could say I miss you but the truth is I'm jonesing for the big guy at the moment… fuck! Lucky shot, Hawkeye!"

"Hawkeye?" Natasha exclaimed. "Tony, mind telling us what's happening?!"

"No tv where you are, huh? I'd expect Avengers Civil War Part Deux would be all over the news by now."

"Civil War?" Bruce mouthed in Natasha's direction. She brushed off her question and instead quickly strapped herself back in the pilot seat, motioning for Bruce to do the same.

"Tony," she snapped. "Coordinates _now_!"

"One minute, Nat. I am. Right… in…the middle… of…getting my ass kicked by… Captain America right now," came Tony's reply in between what can only be sounds of heavy punches.

"Steve!" Natasha exclaimed. Her hands on the throttle faltered at the mention of Steve's name and Bruce snapped his head to look at her. She shook herself and fought for her usual control, focusing instead on the task of flying the plane.

"Care to explain why Cap was in the middle of kicking Tony's ass?" Bruce interjected, calmly.

She spared him a frown before focusing once again on the controls. "You really picked a wrong time _eat-love-and pray_ ing it, Banner." Tony was no longer communicating with them and she increased the speed of the plane, anxious to arrive in time. "Cliff's notes version, many people aren't happy with the destruction we wreaked in New York City and Sokovia. I know, I know, our intentions were good," Natasha interrupted when she saw Bruce made a move to argue," That was never questioned. What they _did_ question was the legitimacy of our authority to act in the first place."

Natasha took Bruce's silence as a sign that he too believed that this was in fact a legitimate question. This was confirmed with his next words. "I do not deny their concern. It is understandable for them to be apprehensive about a group of superpowered people who think they are above the law. But surely the alternative, which is for us to refrain from acting when we can save lives, is not appealing either."

Natasha nodded her head. "Yes, and they came up with what they thought was the middle-ground, which is that we act but the directive needs to come from above. In this case, the UN. They formalized this in the Sokovian Accords and basically ordered us and other superheroes to sign."

Bruce nodded his head in comprehension. "And Civil War?" he asked.

Natasha clenched her jaw. "Most of us don't see eye-to-eye on this. And situation… -sort of escalates. Those of us who refused to sign became fugitives."

Although his overall demeanour did not change, Natasha could tell from the silence that Bruce was beginning to understand the severity of the problem. But further conversation was interrupted by Tony's voice suddenly filling the cockpit once again. "Nat, head to the prison _now_!" he yelled out. "We don't have the manpower to stop them. They're trying to release the X-Men!"

Natasha let out a frustrated sound, frantically turning the plane in the direction of the underwater facility. "Stark, these are kids…"

\- "Ross's men put a tracker in each of the X-Men! Get here now!"

"Shit! If Cap take the kids to their hideout, they'll know where to look for them. " Natasha muttered. Turning to look at Bruce, she said urgently. "Ten minutes to landing. You'd probably take half that time if you…"she faltered.

"Turn green and start jumping?" Bruce filled in, helpfully.

Natasha simply nodded her head, her worry overtaking her ability to speak. Bruce nodded his head with a sigh. She quickly hit the button to release the hatch and without a last look, Bruce Banner jumped out of the moving plane, gradually transforming into the other guy mid air.

She turned back, focusing on decreasing the speed of the aircraft and extending the flaps so as to enable her to safely land on the water. Within seconds of doing this, Natasha swiftly climbed out of the aircraft and swam her way to the platform.

Feeling the foundation shook beneath her feet, she knew that the Hulk has already reached the battle site. This made her run even faster, her heart pounding. She wasn't sure what she was expecting or hoping to see. It was imperative that they stop Cap and the others from taking the kids with them. Not only would the authorities be able to then track their hideout, there is also the question of what would happen to them once they were caught, considering they were still labeled as highly dangerous criminals. On the other hand, she did not want a repeat of what happened at the Berlin airport. The Avengers was already so deeply split, she knew it could not bear any more weight before they broke completely. And this was something she needed to prevent.

She was getting close now. Her heart sank as she took in the sight before her. There were lines of armed men surrounding the superheroes and looking up, she noted with dismay that they had even stationed four snipers at each of the towers surrounding the platform where the fighting was taking place.

She caught sight of Clint and what looked like three teenagers. Concluding that these must be the imprisoned X Men youths, she dashed towards them. As long as they still had the tracking system embedded in them, they are considered a threat to the fugitives and she must make this clear to Clint. The boy turned around and must have labeled her a threat from the defensive stance he assumed. He held his hands up and out came a spray of ice that Natasha, with her fine-honed instincts deftly avoided as she slid down and swept his legs. He fell hard on his back, surprise apparent on his face.

"Nat!" Clint exclaimed, a note of relief on his voice. At the same time, one of the remaining girls noting the efficiency with which she'd taken down her friend, took a step in her direction. Before she could do anything, Natasha still on her sliding momentum, dragged her down by her top and used the sharp edge of her elbow to swiftly knock her out.

"Shit, Nat! Are we going to have to do this again?" Clint muttered in annoyance as he stepped protectively in front of the remaining girl.

Natasha shook her head. She felt bad about taking such aggressive steps but she had very little idea what powers these kids have and decided to err on the side of caution.

"Clint, you need to take the others and leave _right now_!" Natasha urged him.

"Can't agree with you more, Nat, _believe_ me. But big guy over there doesn't seem to agree."

"Banner's only here to stop you from taking the kids…" A loud sound interrupted her and she whipped her head around just in time to see Ironman fell back, Steve's shield hitting him on his chest. Her eyes sought out Steve and found him with Sam, already following up on his attack on Ironman. She looked around for Wanda and felt a huge sense of relief when she saw her in one corner battling Spiderman. This relief was quickly shattered when Falcon made a quick move to engage the Hulk in a fight.

Natasha made a move to reach Steve and try to reason with him. But before she could move, a loud sound tore through the air and she watched as the Hulk's fist connected with Falcon. This sent the man flying through the air in her direction. Before she could try and intercept his fall, a wave of red energy halted Falcon's impact and soon he was merely floating in mid air. Nearby, Wanda, like everyone else, had stopped fighting long enough to witness what was happening to Sam and was quick enough to react. She, however, took another step in the Hulk's direction and sent another, stronger wave of energy. The force of her power was strong enough that it succeeded in immobilizing the Hulk.

Changing direction, Natasha ran instead in the direction of Wanda, intending to mediate between the two before things get out of hand. "Wanda!" she yelled, frantically. The other girl swiftly turned her head in her direction at the sound of Natasha's voice. For a moment, Natasha could see a softening in the girl's eyes as if she was glad to see her. But as if remembering everything that had happened, Wanda's face hardened and ignoring her, she doubled her effort to try and take the Hulk down.

Suddenly pandemonium struck. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Ironman making a sudden move in the direction of the nearby tower screaming, "No! Stand down! DO NOT SHOOT!"

Natasha immediately understood what was happening and re-doubled her effort to reach Wanda. Three armed guards stood between her and the girl but she quickly and skillfully took them down.

But it was too late. She watched as if in slow motion as Wanda's body was thrown back as if hit by a strong force. In growing horror she watched as another shot threw her further back, and another…

"Noooooo!" she screamed, as she watched Wanda's legs slowly gave way, crimson stain spreading around her chest. Natasha felt her own knees weakening but she fought to get closer to the girl.

She was almost within reach when another anguish cry steal the suddenly quiet air. The wail suddenly turned to anger and Natasha looked up to see a wrathful Vision above them. He spread his arms and aimed flashes after flashes of scorching fiery waves upon the direction where the snipers were stationed. The tower could not withstand the hits and started crumbling down. The sound was deafening but Natasha turned back to look at Wanda who now lay on her back, her body agonizingly still.

Natasha shook her head in denial, her heart in her throat. Willing her legs to move, she made her way closer but before she could reach the girl, a block of solid metal loomed above her. She tried to duck away but shock as well as deep anguish slowed down her reflexes and she felt for a moment the agonizing pain as the falling block pinned her down.

But all her attention was still on the lifeless body just within her reach and she cried out, "Wanda, Wanda, please get up.."

Suddenly another frantic voice reached through her sense of numbness.

\- "Wanda?!"

It was Steve and she looked up in time to see him skidding to a full stop beside the fallen body of the Scarlet Witch. He took off his helmet and reached out to slowly shake her body as if to wake her up from mere sleep.

"Steve," Natasha called out, weakly. He looked up, saw her and right there in his eyes was something that Natasha had always dreaded to see but somehow felt was long coming. His eyes were full of accusation and anger as he looked at her. Unable to bear the sight, Natasha sharply turned her face away and closed her eyes to hide the solitary tear.

* * *

Wanda is gone, Natasha repeated to herself. And she had forever lost the chance to let her know how deeply and irrevocably she has changed Natasha's life. Their last interaction with each other had been one of enemies taking opposite sides. Now, Natasha would never get the chance to let Wanda know that not once did she ever view Wanda as her enemy.

Natasha was overwhelmed with pain. Pain from the loss of Wanda. Such deep pain that it even numbs the physical trauma caused by having her lower body pinned down by a fallen debris.

Suddenly she felt the agonizing pressure lessened and then disappeared. She opened her eyes in time to see Steve pushing the block away from her. Unable to control herself, she reached out a hand to him. He hesitated and she almost withdrew the hand, recalling the look on his face as he turned to look at her earlier.

But before she did, he grabbed onto her hand and sank heavily to his knees beside her. This time when he looked at her there was no anger, just pure unbridled need. The need to connect, to share the grief that they both felt at the loss of someone very precious to both of them. His body trembled with unreleased sadness and without hesitating, she scooted over, ignoring the pain in favour of gathering him into her arms. As she did this, his own arms tightened around her and he let out a deep, shaky breath.

"Nat, Nat," he cried repeatedly as he burrowed his face in her neck. She raked a hand through his hair and made shushing sounds even as her own tears wet her face.

For a moment, there were only them, lost in their grief. But the reality of where they were and the danger that still lurked caused her to jerk away and tightened her hold on his arms. "Steve, you have to go! They'll bring reinforcements. Take the others and go."

It took him longer to overcome his grief and she fought the urge to shake him to act. To move. Before she finds herself mourning another loss, one she now knows and accepts, would truly break her. Finally he nodded slowly but instead of moving, he looked at her and asked, "Will you be okay?"

She swallowed the fresh bout of sadness brought on by his question. Instead she nodded her head, making an effort to project a calmness she did not feel. He brought his hand to her face and she no longer had the strength to stop herself from leaning into his touch. They would have stayed that way for longer had Clint not appeared to break them apart.

"Cap, I can see three choppers heading this way. We gotta go right now if we don't want to get caught," Clint stated. His eyes kept straying to the still body and Natasha noted that he too was fighting the grief at Wanda's loss.

"Alright," Steve said finally in a strained voice, "Take the kids and let's go."

"No," Natasha cried out, vehemently, grabbing his arm. "It's a trap, Steve. They put trackers on them. You must leave them here."

Suddenly Steve's body seemed to collapse before her eyes. His eyes when he looked at her were full of growing horror. "I did this. The whole rescue was my idea. And it was all a trap. I did this," he repeated and his face grew ashen as he suddenly turned to Wanda's lifeless body. "And Wanda…" his voice trailed off.

"No!" Natasha protested, pulling his head to face her. "Don't do this, Steve. This is not the time. I need you to survive this so we can find out who's really to blame for all of this." For a second it did not appear as if he was listening to her.

"Cap, you have to leave now," Tony's voice announced his arrival.

Natasha kept her eyes on Steve. "Steve, listen to me," she said, and forced him to look at her. Once he did so, she said quietly but firmly. "This cannot be the thing that breaks us." His eyes searched hers and as if he found what he was looking for there, he nodded. With a last look at Natasha and a final parting look at Wanda's dead body, he grabbed the shield from Tony's outreached hand.

"I'll be sure to make use of that thing you delivered to me, okay?" Tony said.

"You do that," – was the last thing he said before he took off, Clint not far behind him.

That left Natasha and Tony. With the others gone, Natasha watched as Tony seemed to let go of his controlled emotions and sank to the ground, his hands seeking the cold ones of Wanda's. Wordlessly, Natasha laid her own hands on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort.

"I thought I knew what I was doing, Nat," Tony muttered in a deeply anguished voice. He shook his head, gesturing to what surrounded them. Natasha finally lifted her head and surveyed the aftermath of the recent battle. Smoke clouded her vision but she could make out the destruction wreaked by the grieving Vision who seemed to have disappeared. From where they kneeled, she could just make out the unconscious but still breathing form of Bruce Banner. Not far from him were the three young X Men, also unconscious.

"I thought I knew what I was doing," Tony repeated, sadly and Natasha turned her eyes back at him. "And now it's all turned to ashes."

In that instant, the ground shook and bright flashing light surrounded the air. As the light disappeared and Natasha's eyes adjusted, she could see a figure standing in the centre, holding an enormous hammer.

"My friends, Heimdall told of ill tidings befalling my brethren in Midgard. I have come to help."


	9. Interlude

INTERLUDE

Thor stood with his feet braced apart, his eyes reflecting the pain and anguish he felt at the devastation around him. Natasha, Tony and Banner have long been rushed away to receive medical attention, but not before exchanging harsh words with the man they called General Ross. He scowled, thinking back at the tense exchanges between the latter and his team.

"You have a lot to answer for, Stark. I explicitly instructed you to allow them to rescue the prisoners," he bellowed, his face red with frustration.

Tony, not yet succeeding in regaining his composure in the face of such loss, merely offered a non-apologetic shrug. "I didn't think the American public would appreciate the idea of a bunch of super-powered misfits let loose, " he answered, in a voice that poorly concealed a wealth of irreverence.

The general was rendered speechless and merely looked on as paramedics came to take them away.

Thor continued scowling as he now searched the crowd of men for the figure of the general. He sucked in his breath as his eyes instead locked on a face he never thought he would see again. For a minute, as his eyes adjusted to the smoke and ashes that surrounded the battleground, he thought he saw the grinning face of his brother, Loki. He blinked and made a move in the direction of the man but frowned as the man in question once again had the face of the general. He blinked a couple of times but the image remained the same. He frowned, shaking his head, and felt a sudden sense of unease.

* * *

Far away in the distance, on an island overlooking the prison, three figures too silently studied the wreckage before them. The tallest of them, a man with an unkempt appearance, let out a sound of anger and turned accusing eyes at the older one in a wheelchair. "You still believe we should stay back and not get involved?" he demanded.

The old man sighed loudly, his face a study in grief. "The time will come when we shall have to take a side too, Logan. But I wish to keep the unity of the mutants for that much longer. I fear that once the X Men gets involved, mutants everywhere will feel the need to expose themselves needlessly and cause more danger to our community."

Wolverine snorted and flashed an arm in the direction of the ruins before them. "Danger is already here, Professor! Those are our people they have in their custody right now!" he pointed out angrily. "We should have been helping those fugitives break them loose!"

The professor shook his head sadly. "I have read the mind of that one they called Ironman and knows the reason for his actions. Releasing Rogue and the others would have exposed us all, Logan."

The other member of the trio, a woman with a spiky head of silver hair, finally spoke out, her voice ringing with deep regret. "But such a loss. She was a powerful one too," she said, referring to the death of the Scarlet Witch.

The Professor fell silent, his eyes closing in concentration. Suddenly a beatific smile appeared on his wise face. "Ah, maybe not for long, Ororo."

Opening his eyes, he quickly made a move to leave the area. "Come, we need to make a stop at the city morgue and pick her up. She is even now feeling lost and severely disoriented."

The other two frowned and exchanged confused looks. "Who is this 'she'?" Wolverine questioned, gruffly.

Professor Xavier turned around and flashed them a happy smile. "The only surviving child of Magneto."


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

"Are we going to talk about what happened back there?" Sharon Carter demanded as soon as they safely made it into the Wakandan palace.

"Not now, Sharon," Steve said, quietly, his face mask of grief. Not slowing down, he instead quickly left the hall in the direction of his room.

"Is everyone okay?" Tchalla inquired, concern lining his face.

Clint shook his head but refused to say anything, grief still a heavy lead in his heart.

"They knew we were coming!" Sharon continued, persistently. "Care explaining how they knew we were coming, Hawkeye?" she demanded, her voice laced with accusation.

"You trying to say something, Carter?" Clint asked, threateningly.

Sam quickly moved to stand between them. He faced Sharon and gave her a firm look. "Like the Cap said, not now. We just lost Wanda."

"Precisely why we need to talk about this right now before we lose anyone else!" she argued.

"Do you really think this was my doing?" Clint demanded, stepping away from behind Sam to face Sharon.

"You're the one with the link to the Black Widow!" she pointed out, angrily.

"You think she planned all this? Set a trap for us? Have Wanda shot down like that? You really think that was _her_ doing?" Clint was yelling now, anger and grief mixing together and finding a target to unleash both on.

"I don't have the first clue what Black Widow is capable of! All I know is that she is not here with us," she yelled back, gesturing to all of us. "Which means she is out there against us!"

\- "STOP THIS!" Steve's thunderous voice stopped whatever Clint was about to say next and all four of them turned to see him striding back into the hall.

"We just suffered a huge loss," he stated in a quieter but no less angry voice. "Can we take the time to mourn her before we start pointing fingers at each other? No, Sharon," he cut her off when he saw her about to say something. "I am aware that they knew we were coming. But I trust each and everyone in this room. Each of you has given up much to be here with me now. We do great disservice if we were to start looking at each other suspiciously now."

He folded his arms and turned to face Sharon head on. "As for Black Widow? She might not be standing with us right now but I trust her explicitly. Whatever happened back there, she didn't have anything to do with it except once again to make sure we all get away safely. Now can we all please table this discussion for later when we're not still feeling raw?"

He waited till they all indicated their agreement, Sharon the last to nod her head, eyes on the floor and cheeks reddening. Without another word, Steve once again made his way out of the hall, the Captain America with shoulders all hunched down as if the weight of the world was all laid there.

Clint felt for the Cap but something was nagging in his head. He looked around at the other three occupants of the room. Steve might trust them but Clint knew that it was not him that tipped anyone off about their plan to rescue the kids. And if it wasn't him, it must be one of the other people in the room.

* * *

It wasn't that difficult to lay his hands on what he needed. The next day, he strolled into the palace's security room and asked if they have any bugging devices. "The king send me," Clint stated, casually when the man in charge gave him a skeptical look. He held the other man's eyes, his whole posture oozing sincerity. There was no one better than him when it comes to the art of deception.

He strolled out a few minutes later with his objective in his backpack. Knowing Sharon Carter was down at the dining hall finishing up her breakfast, Clint quickly headed into her room and began setting up the bug.

He was not just mainly going by instincts in isolating Sharon as a suspect. Sam he quickly crossed off the list. For one thing, he was an Avenger. For another, he has been by Steve's side since the debacle in Washington, risking his life for Steve's cause. Plus, Wanda meant just as much to the man as she did to everyone else in the team. So Clint could not see him having an angle.

T'challa was not someone he crossed out lightly. After all they've only made his acquaintance recently. Moreover, his experience with the Avengers did not start off on a good footing, what with Steve protecting the very man suspected of killing his father, and Natasha betraying him at the airport to let Steve and Bucky escape. But T'challa has gone a full ninety-degree ever since finding out the truth about the Geneva bombing. Offering Steve and the other fugitives his palace to hide in, he even helped Bucky go back down into cryogenic freezing to allow the man some peace. Of course Clint wouldn't be the covert agent he is if he didn't also find all these favours suspect. What convinced him the most that T'challa could not have been the spy was the very fact that had he wanted to, he could have given them up at any given time. Had he meant them any harm, there would have been nothing they could have done to prevent him from harming them, as deeply immersed as they are in Wakanda and surrounded by T'challa's men and private army. So why would he bother harming them covertly when he could do so directly anytime he wanted?

So that left Sharon Carter. The woman whose first brush with Steve had been to spy on him, even if it was under Nick Fury's orders. In fact, there was just so much that was still unknown about the woman. She has lied about her identity, concealed her relationship with the woman who played a major role in Steve's past and risked her job and her life for a man that she barely even knew beyond occasional greetings in the hallway.

Heading back to his room, he set up the transmitter and sat himself down, anticipating a long day of surveillance ahead of him.

It was hours later when there was finally some sound of interaction coming from the speaker. Following a knock on the door, a voice Clint recognized as Steve asked her if he could come in. This was followed by some quiet small talks about breakfast and whether Steve slept well the night before.

"Steve, I'm so sorry about Wanda. She was an Avenger. Losing Aunt Peggy so recently, I can only imagine how you're feeling right now," Sharon's voice was soft, and laced with sorrow.

"She wasn't just a teammate, Sharon," he replied, quietly. He was quiet for a while then he let out a heavy sigh. "After I woke up from that ice, there were days when I felt that I couldn't get out of bed. The idea of facing another day, with everything that I have lost, became like a load weighing me down. Those days? I would never have believed that I could ever recover all my losses. But finding the Avengers, fighting alongside this group of brave, incredibly self-less people, brought all that back to me ten-fold. They became more than people that I fight the bad guys with, Sharon. They're my family," he said then continued in a sad voice. "I just lost a member of my family."

Clint felt his own heart grew heavy. What Steve was saying, he felt the same too. He might not have spent as much time with Wanda as Steve, Natasha, Sam and Tony did. But he felt the loss just the same.

For a while there was only silence over the line and Clint imagined the two locked in a comforting embrace. Then Sharon's voice came on, hesitant and awkward. "Steve, about Black Wi…- Agent Romanoff," she started then there was another moment of silence as if she was searching for words. "I… I saw you and her at the prison."

Another silence fell as if she expected Steve to add to what she was saying, volunteering information to a question she seemed to be having difficulty asking. When Steve remained quiet, she continued, "Is there anything between you and Natasha?"

Again there was silence. And again it seemed that Sharon was once again forced to carry out this conversation by herself. "I mean,… -god, I feel awkward asking this! It's just that, back in Berlin, you kissed me. And I just,.. I thought there might be something here. But I don't want to step on anything, if.. if there _is_ anything to step on between you and Natasha."

Finally, as if taking pity on the woman, Clint heard Steve let out a heavy sigh. "Nat is…," he broke off as if he himself was finding it difficult to put a word, a definition on what it was between him and Natasha. "In Berlin, you and I, we connected. We lost someone who meant so much to both of us. And then you risked your job, and as it turned out now you risked everything, to help me out, getting me back my shield and Sam his wings. I felt that you were there and she…"

"Are you saying this is all because you feel grateful that I helped you?" Clint winced at how affronted she sounded.

"No! I just... I do, like you, I mean. But… I, I think I just need to work things out right now."

Clint rolled his eyes. This conversation was starting to get really awkward. And he was starting to feel bad about intruding on Steve's privacy. He quickly made a move to lower down the volume of the transmitter when Sharon's voice came on again, sounding apologetic.

"I'm sorry to put you on the spot like this, Steve. And today of all days, too. I don't know what's wrong with me lately! Sometimes I feel like I'm not acting like myself." Clint's hand froze on the controller.

"Is everything alright, Sharon?" Steve asked, his voice heavy with concern.

"I don't want to trouble you. I mean, I don't even know if there _is_ anything wrong with me. Just that, sometimes I feel like I'm losing the plot. And I'm finding trouble sleeping too." Clint frowned. Was this a ploy to regain Steve's attention or was she genuinely in distress? And if so, what was causing her distress? Could it be the guilt of spying on Steve weighing on her conscience? Or is it something more sinister?

"Could it be stress from all this hiding? I am so sorry, Sharon. This is all my fault."

\- "No! Steve, I made this choice. You didn't put a gun to my head, okay? I am here because I choose to be. So please, stop kicking yourself. And please, forget I said anything. I'm just being a spaz." Even to his ears the laughter that followed sounded forced and hollow.

That seemed to end the conversation but Clint was far from convinced. If something was going on with Sharon Carter, he wants to find out about it.


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

" _Tasha, you can't really be seriously going through with this," Wanda said without preamble, intercepting Natasha just as she was about to board the Stark-sponsored Avengers aircraft._

 _Natasha let out a sigh. This was a conversation she had expected to have with Steve and had been dreading ever since the group discussion after Ross's bombshell. She was not surprised that the man had remained stoic when she had taken the differing view. There was disappointment in his eyes but he had refrained from saying anything to change her mind. And then he was gone upon hearing news about Margaret Carter's death._

 _But Wanda was a different story. She knew that the girl was not happy with her decision. "Wanda, this is something I feel is the right thing to do," she tried explaining._

" _To have people tell us what to do and where to go?" Wanda questioned, her hands on her hips. "Steve doesn't think so."_

 _Natasha gave out a weary sigh. "Steve's last experience with international organization had been the League of Nations, the one that failed to prevent the world war that he was forced to fight in. I understand why he would have trust issues with the idea of us being controlled by such organization," Natasha explained. "But this is the United Nations, Wanda. A total of one hundred and ninety-three countries are represented in the UN. One hundred and ninety-three countries in the world crying out for us to be regulated. How can we honestly say that what we do is in the service of the public if we ignore what the public want?"_

 _This silenced Wanda for a minute but her hard expression did not change. "You keep saying we but it's really me. I am the one they want to control. I am the one they fear. I am the one who caused all those deaths in Lagos," Wanda cried out, her voice ending in a quiver. "And you believe this too. That is why you are going to Geneva to sign the Accords," she continued, her voice revealing the depth of how betrayed she felt._

" _NO, Wanda, you've got it all wrong," Natasha began to say but Wanda cut her off._

 _\- "Then why was I not allowed to go with Sam to London? Vision said Tony wants me to remain here. For what reason other than to keep me away from people? Because of what I can do, my powers."_

 _Natasha walked over to where Wanda stood and gripped the girl's arms. "You listen to me. Lagos was not your fault. What you did save Steve's life! Yes, it was unfortunate that it led to the deaths of others, but you did not intend for it to happen that way." She tightened her grip. "Wanda, I know what it feels like to cause deaths. I know what it feels like to have people's eyes look at me with judgement and fear. So you must understand why I need to do this."_

 _Wanda's face remained unconvinced and Natasha sighed, checking the time on her watch. "We'll talk more about this once I return from Geneva, okay? I'm running late as it is and I'd like to stop by London to check on Cap," she said, releasing her grip on the girl's arms. "I'll talk to Tony, okay? I think he's being overly cautious and I'll tell him that. You sit tight until we return, you hear me?"_

 _Wanda nodded her head and satisfied with this, Natasha made a move to board the aircraft. Before she could enter, Wanda's voice stopped her. "Tasha, remember that thing we talked about? You and Steve?" she called out and Natasha turned around to see Wanda's concerned face. "Think about what I said, okay? Before it's too late."_

* * *

Natasha's fingers recoiled from the photo as if burnt. It was two days after the prison incident and she was yet to be dismissed from the hospital, due to the trauma from being pinned by the piece of fallen debris. Earlier that afternoon, Peter Parker had dropped by to check on her as well as to hand in the surveillance photos that she and Tony had instructed him to look into. It seemed that the kid had some pretty advanced hacking skills and considering Tony was otherwise preoccupied, he had been tasked with looking into the whereabouts of Sharon Carter before she disappeared and joined the other fugitives.

The team had had a long debriefing the night of the after the tragedy at the prison inside this very hospital room.

"They've got a mole in their team," Tony stated, wearily, slumped over in the armchair positioned next to Natasha's bed. His face mirrored the sentiments felt all around the room. Grief, exhaustion, anger all rolled into one. "General Ross knew exactly what the Cap had planned. He seems to think that you had a hand in it too, Nat," he continued, casting her a speculative look.

Natasha, too numb to muster up an effort to put up a vehement protest, just gave him a steady look and asked, "And what exactly made him think that?"

Tony shrugged, an action meant to reassure her that he did not share Ross's conclusion. "Seems the informer also mentioned that you had Clint looking out for Steve and Wanda."

Natasha's face remained stony. "I did," she replied, matter-of-factly. "But I hadn't heard from him since."

"Then it seems, my friends, that we must assume the traitor to be deep within Cap's circle of allies," Thor deduced, his face grave and arms folded.

"I think we can safely rule Hawkeye out, right?" Banner interjected and they all agreed.

"That leaves Sam, Tchalla and Agent Carter," Tony stated.

\- "… and the Ant dude," Peter added, helpfully. At Thor's and Banner's perplexed look, he stammered, "Erm, he's another superhero? About this small," he explained, using his thumb and forefinger as illustrations.

Natasha shook her head. "Antman wasn't with them tonight."

\- "Neither was T'challa. But for good reasons, I suppose. To maintain appearances," Tony speculated.

"And Sam wouldn't do this. He's got no reason to. He's been with Steve since Washington," Natasha said, simply.

It was inevitable for their suspicion to land on Agent Carter. They weren't ready to rule out Ant Man and Tchalla either but she was the least known variable. The first thing they needed was more information on the former SHIELD agent.

And that was the reason why Natasha found herself staring at a stack of surveillance photos on Sharon Carter's whereabouts before her disappearance. Except Natasha could not move on from the current photo on her lap to look at the others in the pile. Her eyes locked on the image of Steve Rogers in a lip-lock with the blonde, noting the way his arms were wrapped around her and the content expression on his face. She tried to drag her fingers to move on to the next photo but she couldn't bring herself to touch it, the last thing Wanda said to her playing in her mind. She closed her eyes, fresh pain overwhelming her at the reminder of her loss.

Was Wanda right? It was getting harder and harder for Natasha to deny her feelings. Not with the way she was reacting to the sight of Steve embracing someone that was not her. She tried telling herself that she was behaving irrationally and that this was unlik her. She tried telling herself that Steve was not hers, and as such she has no right to feel betrayed by the sight of Steve kissing another woman. Besides, Sharon Carter, - or at least the Sharon Carter she believed her to be-, was exactly the type of woman Steve belongs with. Steve deserved more than Natasha who has always been shaped to be nothing more than a tool for death and destruction.

Scolding herself for this moment of weakness, she picked up the photo and swiftly placed it at the bottom of the pile. That was not the role set out for her in Steve's life. He has made his decision and Natasha must set up her mind to be happy for him, to support him as she has always done since Washington.

She repeated this in her mind as she flicked through the stack of photos, not seeing anything incriminating until she was halfway through. It was a photo of Sharon outside of her apartment and by her side were two men Natasha did not recognize. One was an older, bespectacled men with a stocky build. He was in a suit but he wore it as if he would have been more comfortable in another garment. A military man, he appeared to be. The other had his face turned away and Natasha flicked through more of the photos but failed to find one which captured a good look at the second man.

But it was not the men that first triggered Natasha's internal alarm. It was the vacant look in the otherwise warm and serene Sharon Carter that had Natasha giving the photos a deeper inspection.

"Found something?" Tony's voice interrupted her from her scrutiny. "Coz I've been hitting brick walls all day. I've, in fact, just been tearing the hospital administrator a new one. So I would expect a drop in their medical attention, if I were you," he continued, taking the seat next to her bed.

"No news on Wanda's body?" Natasha questioned.

"Unless she up and walk out the morgue by herself, the man insisted that there has been no records of her body being moved at any given time."

Natasha studied Tony's face. "Is that even a possibility?"

Tony looked up and met her eyes. "We all saw her go down. We were close enough afterwards to see the wounds on her chest," he said, "…right?" He paused then looked at her, "What do you know about Wanda and where her powers came from?"

Natasha frowned. "What do you mean? You were right there at Stucker's bunker, Stark. She and Pietro were products of some kind of science experiment, weren't they?"

Tony rolled his eyes at Natasha's mention of science experiments but wisely chose not to comment. "At least that's what Stucker wanted them to believe," he murmured. "You see, after Sokovia, I started reading up on genetic mutation. What? I just had a slip of girl played voodoo with my head, okay? Of course I wanted to understand how that could happen."

"Of course, please continue. And try to use as much English as you possibly can."

Tony smirked at her. "Allow me to make this simple for you. What science did to enhance our Cap's body is just a replication of what nature did for Wanda and those X Men kids. Except, with nature, there is no telling what the mutation will result in. And some specialists argued that there is no guarantee that the body will stop evolving once it started."

Natasha was starting to get where Tony was headed with this. "So mutants can develop more powers over time whereas Steve, because his was scientifically manipulated, will always just have the one?"

"Exactly. And Wanda certainly lend credence to that theory. Not only can she manipulate minds, she can also control energy and move things with it," Tony interpolated. "Ever since the appearance of the first mutant, many studies have been conducted to explain the reason for this. A few years back, Dr Jean Grey, before her disappearance stated that in her research on mutation, almost all of them she had talked to reveal that their powers appear after a particularly traumatic experience, whether psychologically or physically she was reluctant to differentiate. "

"Except, Tony, that Wanda told us that her powers started appearing when Stucker picked them up and experimented with them."

"Which was not too long after they lost their parents in the bomb attack. I read the reports left behind after Stucker left. He wasn't experimenting on Wanda and Pietro. He was trying to extract what was in their bodies to try and replicate on others." Tony finished then kept quiet.

Natasha studied Tony's face and felt a sudden wave of hope crushing her heart. "Tony," Natasha breathe, "do you think Wanda is alive?"

His eyes locked with hers. "I'll have Peter check surveillance cameras from the across the hospital. But yeah, Nat, I do believe she is."

"Greetings, my friends!" a jovial voice interrupted their serious conversation. Natasha looked up just in time to see the smile slipped off Thor's face as he stepped inside the room, Banner following close behind. "Natasha, you should not be working while you are convalescing. When a warrior is injured in battle, he should be cared for, "he lectured, grabbing the stacks of photos from Natasha's hands despite her protest, "and pampered," he finished, heavy-handedly shoving Natasha to lay back on her bed.

Banner stood beside Tony's seated form, both failing in their attempt to keep a straight face as Natasha sat back up with a huff. "Thor, thank you for your concern but I'm perfectly fine. I don't see why I can't return to the facility anyway. And give me those back, Thor."

A bewildered Thor handed her the stack of photos and Natasha quickly flipped through the pile in search for the one with the two men, studiously avoiding looking at Steve's photo. When she found it, she pointed at the face of the military man. "We should look into these men," she announced.

The three men leaned forward to take a look and Natasha did not miss the way Thor's eyes snapped to Banner upon seeing the face. "Banner, does that image not appear akin to the man described by Frau Schafer?"

Upon Natasha's confused look, Banner stated in response, "Tony sent us to ask around Sharon Carter's neighbours. And yes, I suppose this man fits in the description."

"So you got anything useful?" Tony enquired.

Banner hesitated the same time Thor nodded his head emphatically. "We found many things. Her neighbours were rather accommodating and shared many stories about her comings and goings. This is what I like most of Midgard, the people are all so gracious and obliging."

Tony turned to Banner and enquired, "The neighbours are mostly women, aren't they?"

Banner nodded his head, eyes on his feet and lips hiding an amused smile as Tony rolled his eyes. Natasha too shared in their amusement.

"Of course they're accommodating, Thor when you're all dressed in that – wait, what size shirt are you wearing? Is that an M? Someone needs to take Thor shopping for clothes that actually fit, people," Tony snarked.

"Or not," Natasha quipped, flashing Tony a playful look, "We do want people to continue to be accommodating and obliging," she said with a grin then turned serious eyes to Banner. "What about the man?"

Banner shrugged. "I am not all that sure if it's relevant. But according to her next-door neighbour, she was last seen in the company of these two men before she disappeared that very night."

Tony shrugged. "At this point we'll use whatever we can," he said, standing up, "Nat, since espionage and surveillance is your kinda thing, I leave this in your hands?" Natasha signaled her assent with a roll of her eyes. Straightening up his blazer, Tony announced, "Then I'll make sure to have another lovely talk with the administrator. If you say you're fine, no reason you have to continue to stay in this pathetic excuse of a hospital."

* * *

The man was Wallace Smith and he claimed to be a financial consultant. This information Natasha received from Thor, based on his own conversation with another of Sharon Carter's neighbour, a single parent with whom the latter sometimes hung out with. Searching known databases, however, did not produce any Wallace Smith that fits the description of the man in the photo. So it was another dead end.

Slamming her laptop down in frustration, Natasha jumped at the knock on her door. Her surprise amplified as the door opened to reveal T'challa's apologetic look. When she rose to stand, he quickly strode in, with his hands up, "Please, Ms Romanoff. I have heard of your injury. Do not stand on my account." Natasha sat back down, and gestured to the empty seat before her.

"Your highness, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Natasha enquired, reverting swiftly to politeness. This was the first time she has spoken with T'challa ever since the airport incident. Even though he has publicly refuted his charge against her, she knew that Tony was behind all that. As such she was unsure whether there remain residual resentment over her actions. She watched carefully as he took the proffered seat.

He gave her a steady look and smiled. "I hope you are feeling much recovered, Ms Romanoff. A mutual friend of ours is very concerned when news of your prolonged stay at the hospital reached us. He sends me here to enquire of your wellbeing."

Natasha frowned at his mention of mutual friend. As if sensing her confusion, T'challa clarified. "Steve Rogers is even now under my hospitality. Has been since he was declared a fugitive. Him, and other members of your Avengers team. And recently Agent Sharon Carter has been added to the mix as well."

Natasha's elation at the news that Steve had made it to safety diminished slightly at the mention of Sharon Carter's name.

"I would also like to convey my condolences at the loss of your fellow Avenger. Wanda was an admirable person and her absence will be greatly missed," T'challa stated, solemnly.

Natasha nodded her head, lowering her eyes, unwilling to reveal the depth of her sorrow at his words but also the budding hope Tony's hypothesis had awaken in her. Instead she looked up at him and said, "Thank you for your warm words, your highness. I'm sorry, would you like something to drink?"

He shook his head quickly, "No, Ms Romanoff.."

-" Natasha," she interjected.

"No, thank you, Natasha. I cannot stay long as it is. But before I take my leave, there is another reason for my visit here," he started. "I am aware that there has been a somewhat reconciliation between the two sides," he paused again, awaiting Natasha's nodding as confirmation before continuing, "As such, I merely wish to extend an invitation to you, and Tony Stark as well, to visit my kingdom. After all, I do owe you and the other Avengers a token of appreciation for your part in attempting to apprehend the proprietor of my father's death."

She raised an eyebrow at his words and he seemed to understand her unspoken question. "It will offer an opportunity to also bridge the two sides further and perhaps we can have discussions over future actions regarding our common problem," he explained, meaning the disaster that the Accords has become at present.

Natasha thought this invitation over. On one hand was her desire to finally reunite with Steve and the others. But she also questioned the wisdom of showing their hand when there is still the issue of a mole in their midst.

At her continued silence, T'challa raised perceptive eyes to Natasha. "I do understand the root of your reluctance, Natasha. We, too, are wary of the channel of communication the members of the task force seems to have within my walls. Perhaps, this too, can be the agenda for discussion upon your visit?" he questioned, his voice alluding to deeper meaning, and Natasha understood that the word discussion could easily be replaced by interrogation. She now fully understood the reason for his visit.

"I will speak to Tony about this and let you know of our decision."

He nodded his head and made a move to stand. "Yes, that would be most wise. I shall of course, extend a formal invitation in these coming days for your visit. I look forward to your reply, Natasha," he said and after giving her a farewell nod, walked towards the door.

He turned to her before he left. "Our friend will be happy to know that you are looking well, Natasha. Do continue to take care of your person," he said, warmly, leaving Natasha to stare at the closing door, fighting the rush of emotions his words brought back to her.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Wanda is alive," Tony breathes out in wonder. All of them had their eyes locked on the screen Peter had pulled up for them.

"Yep," Peter confirmed, beaming, swirling his chair to look at Tony, Natasha, Thor and Banner. "It was tough making out anything at first. Image quality was crap. I had to use this software that allowed me to double the …"

\- "Yeah, yeah, kid. We don't really need a commentary," Tony interrupted him, straightening up to look at the others. There was a wide smile on his face and a look of relief in his eyes. "She's alive, team!"

"Aye, but why have we not heard from her?" Thor wondered, a frown on his face.

Natasha and Tony shared a look. "Peter, did you get a look at whether or not she was alone?" Tony asked quietly, the glad smile slowly slipping off his face.

"Like I said, image not the best, Tony. But from what I had to work with, she looked like she was alone," Peter replied.

"She's probably hiding out, Tony. She's still on the most wanted list of the UN task force. If she's smart, she'll stay hidden," Banner suggested, hands in pockets.

"The task force thinks she's dead though," Peter reminded them.

Tony nodded his head. "And she'll stay dead for as long as they're still looking for her," he announced and looked at them in turn, "We'll have to keep up the pretense of her death. We can't have a funeral, we don't have a body."

"We can have a memorial," Peter piped in.

"And we'll have to make it the biggest news to hit the stand," Tony said then paused, looking away. "I'll have Pepper handle it," he murmured, almost distractedly.

"Pepper?" Banner asked with a smile.

Tony shrugged but there was a smile on his face. "We've talked things out. Pepper's back on team Ironman now," he announced, carelessly, but everyone in the room knows how deep his feelings go for the CEO of the Stark Industries.

Tony turned to look at Natasha who still had her eyes glued on the computer screen. "Nat?" Tony asked, quietly.

Natasha nodded her head in agreement. Then feeling all eyes on her, she quickly turned around and headed for her room. Once the door was safely closed behind her, she slid down on the floor and finally let go of the streams of emotion she had been holding back ever since Peter had pulled up Wanda's face on the computer screen. After her talk with Tony, she wanted to hope but something inside her wouldn't let her. The thing that was the remnant of the Red Room had told her that to hope was to set herself up for a fall she might not recover from. But to now see Wanda's face, she let all the hope and happiness wash over her and she closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

* * *

 _It has been a month since Sokovia. Natasha had spent most of the time immersed in training the new recruits of Avengers. She had kept herself purposely busy since, not wanting to rehash the decisions she had made._

 _Steve had tried numerous times to get her to talk to him, to share with him what was going through her mind. And it wasn't as if Natasha was avoiding talking to him because she thought he wouldn't understand. It was the opposite. She knew that Steve, more than anyone, would have understood the need to force the Hulk out of Banner that day. To push the man off the cliff to wake up the Hulk, even when Banner had expressly told her his intention to skip the fight. Steve, the man who had intentionally drove the plane into the ice, would have understood that there are things bigger than himself. That same man, who had stood right next to her on that hill in Sokovia ready to once again sacrifice himself just so more Sokovians could have been saved, would have understood why she had to do what she did to Banner._

 _But she wasn't ready to be talked out of her guilt. She knew perfectly well what a shitty thing she did back there. The worst of it was that she had done it to a teammate, to a person who trusted her, whom she claimed to have feelings for._

 _So that day, she was preparing herself for another day of fighting her demons. For the rest of the team, it was a day off, a day where no training has been scheduled and no bad guys to fight. Which was why everyone found themselves in the common room of the facility; Natasha reading a Russian work of literature, Sam and Rhodes discussing the merits of the US airforce and Wanda sitting across from her playing with her phone._

 _Natasha did not look up when she felt Steve taking the seat next to her. She could feel him sending her furtive glances even as he joined the discussion, sticking up for the land forces. She did not even outwardly react as the friendly discussion move on to a competitive showdown between Sam and Rhodes over whose suit was the best._

" _Should we break this up?" Steve leaned in close to her to ask quietly. Natasha shrugged, not having the energy to commit herself to the situation. She could sense his frown as he continued to study her. She knew Steve was starting to feel frustrated with her…_

 _Whatever she was thinking was cut short as there was a loud crash in the room and Natasha looked up to see Sam's laying on his back over a now broken table, Rhodes thighs straddling his mid-section._

" _What the fuck, man?!" Sam roared, pushing Rhodes off of him._

" _I don't know! I've seen the Black Widow used the move many times. It looked very effective," Rhodes replied, half-apologetically._

 _Realizing what just happened, Natasha burst out laughing. It was like a dam had broken loose and she let the laughter poured out of her. She laughed harder as Sam stood up, glaring at Rhodes the whole time. So immersed was her in her laughter that she did not immediately realize that Wanda had pull up her camera to take a picture of her._

 _Later that day Natasha stepped into the kitchen to find Wanda seated on the table, still preoccupied with her phone. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat next to the girl._

 _In all her preoccupation with her own internal struggle, she had failed to realize that the girl too had been similarly closed up. Natasha kicked herself for forgetting that Wanda was going through something much worst, the loss of a brother, a twin brother at that._

" _Pietro was the one who was always laughing," Wanda said, without looking up. Natasha leaned in and saw that Wanda had been looking through pictures of her and her brother on her phone. "He was always the one making cracks and pulling pranks. Ever since our parents died, it was like he made it his duty to make me laugh. "_

 _Natasha remained quiet, not wanting to intrude on the girl's reminiscing. "He finds humour in every little thing," she continued, her tone staying unchanged. "And now he is gone. And I feel bad that I never thanked him for trying to cheer me up, that I didn't always laugh. And I know I should start doing it more now, that he would want me to laugh and be happy. But how can I when he is no longer around to see me do that?" Natasha watched helplessly as the girl's shoulders shook with the tears that were now streaming down her face. She reached out and covered the girl's hand with her own._

 _And Natasha understood the depth of Wanda's grief. That struggle between wanting to move on and yet struggling with the guilt that comes with it. She squeezed the girl's hand. "It is okay to be happy, Wanda. It is okay to laugh and smile and appreciate what life has given you," she said, firmly._

 _Wanda looked up and gave Natasha a searching look. "Will you?" she asked, softly._

 _Natasha nodded her head. "Yes, yes, I will."_

* * *

Natasha folded her arms as she studied the picture at the podium. It was one of Wanda's pictures where she was actually smiling. It hurt her heart that there weren't many such pictures.

She turned around at the sound of footsteps entering the room and smiled at the sight of Pepper and Tony. Their relationship had taken quite a hit ever since Tony had become an Avenger. It was such a shame too considering how Pepper seemed to be the only person who Tony actually ever listened to. Which was why the sight of them now together again made Natasha feel glad for her teammate.

Without a word, Pepper engulfed Natasha in a warm hug. "Oh, Nat, I am so sorry all these happened," she said. "I hope Wanda's somewhere safe."

Nat threw Tony a questioning look but before he could answer, Pepper interrupted him. "Oh, I hope it's okay that Tony told me everything?"

Natasha shook her head and smiled reassuringly at the other woman. "It's good that Tony has someone to tell things to."

Pepper threw her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry how things went with Steve, Nat. I always thought you guys make so much sense together. Maybe you can work things out after all this is over?" she said, rubbing Natasha's arms comfortingly.

All Natasha could do was stare at Pepper, so confused was she by her words. At her baffled look, Pepper threw Tony a helpless look, a flush spreading up her face. "…and you are not a couple, are you?" she commented with an embarrassed grimace. Natasha shook her head, avoiding looking at Tony who was not in any way hiding his amusement at the scene enfolding before her.

Pepper slapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, Natasha, I assumed you two were, you were…- well, you know what I thought. I mean you're so close and always together. And there's always this tension around you… "-

\- "Pretty sure you're making it worst, babe," Tony interrupted her word projectile, even as Natasha fought to keep her own composure under control.

"Steve and I are just partners, Pepper," Natasha stated, simply.

"Okay," Pepper replied though to Natasha's ears, her tone sounded skeptical. She decided however to accept the woman at face value and changed the topic. She asked Pepper about preparations for the memorial instead.

Before too long, the others arrived, all garbed in their Avengers suits. Tony decided that having the Avengers come and show their respects in their respective suit would be a suitable 'fuck-you' gesture to General Ross and the task force. A sign that the Avengers still consider Wanda Maximoff as a member of the team.

Natasha did not pay much attention to the ceremony. At one level, she knew that this was all pretend. But it was just too close to what nearly happened that she could not bring herself to participate, to allow herself even to pretend that Wanda was anything but alive and well.

Suddenly Tony's phone started ringing in the middle of Rhodes sharing a memory involving Wanda. Natasha watched closely as Tony listened urgently to the person on the other line. As soon as the call ended, he turned to the others and announced grimly, "Trouble at the UN headquarters, Avengers. Apparently a small group of enhanced showed up to 'protest' the imprisonment of the X-men." He gestured to the exit door, "I'd say suit up. But we're all ready to go, aren't we?"

"So are we stopping the enhanced or aiding their protest?" Banner asked, drily.

"We might not want to be associated with this group of mutants, Banner. One's apparently called Pyro and has set part of the UN building on fire. Another is a teleporting swordsman and has already wounded a handful of UN employees," Tony explained, even as he quickly ushered Spiderman into the Avengers aircraft.

Thor nodded his head, swinging his hammer in anticipation of a good fight. "Ah, well, then let us do what we do best then, Avengers!"

* * *

Natasha stood quietly with arms folded and feet braced, persistently ignoring the call for her to get herself checked up. It has been a tough fight. Psylocke had been the easiest to apprehend, with Natasha and Spiderman working together to bring her down. Thor had his hands full with Pyro but had the fight finally ended with a hit of his hammer to Pyro's forehead. Azazel, on the other hand, required all five of them putting in everything they've got to bring the teleporting mutant down.

Natasha once again brushed away one of the UN employee's appeal to get herself checked, instead staying to watch the three apprehended mutants escorted to the underwater prison. Following the members of the taskforce, she entered the circular room and watched as one by one the mutants were pushed into their cell. She hated the thought that not too long ago, half of her former team had been similarly imprisoned in these cells. Instead she let her eyes roamed around the room and felt the hair on her neck stood.

Over on the other side, in three separate rooms, the three teenagers sat quietly, staring at the wall. There seemed to be no reaction at all from any of them even as the most recent mutants began struggling and cursing the task force.

Natasha walked over to take a closer look. None of the kids looked up even as she stood right in front of their cells. "Hey," she called out softly and the boy who almost took her down with his ice power looked up. Natasha felt the breath stole out of her in a gasp as his vacant eyes met hers. There was no recognition there, no sign of identity.

"I'm getting a little 'Village of the Damned' vibe in this room," Tony murmured, softly as he approached her.

"What the hell are they doing to these kids, Tony?" Natasha hissed, keeping her voice down.

"You want to go and find out?" Tony stated and reached out his hand. With a frown, Natasha held out her own hand and Tony dropped a tiny object in the palm of her hand. "I saw Ross headed over to the main room just across the hall from this cell. You'd have a better chance popping in that hard-drive without their notice."

Natasha nodded her head and quietly made her way out of the cell. There was a single guard barring her way to the room Tony described. Keeping the weariness and fatigue off her face, she slipped on a flirtatious smirk as she sauntered over the man.

"You're not allowed in here," the guard warned her, forcefully.

She shrugged one shoulder carelessly and looked up at the man from the corner of her eye. "Don't you know who I am?" she asked him, coyly. She twirled a strand of red hair around her finger as her eyes made out the position of the camera in the hallway. She bit her lip suggestively and slowly made her way to a spot where she knew the camera would not pick up on the angle. To her relief, the guard in his insistence on keeping anyone out, followed her.

"I don't care who you are. General Ross specifically instructed that no one is to enter here, not even the Avengers," he spat out, forcefully.

In a swift action that completely took the man by surprise, Natasha had him pinned on to the wall with an arm on his neck. The man sputtered trying to breath through the pressure she was exacting on his windpipe. "I am the Black Widow," Natasha murmured, keeping her face close enough to the man to keep him from the camera, "and I go where I want." The man closed his eyes, unconscious, and Natasha carefully placed him in a sitting position on the floor as if he had simply fallen asleep.

She continued on through the hallway and casually walked into the room. Ross looked up at her entrance and all conversation came to a halt. She watched as the man straightened up and put on a pretense of indifference. "Agent Romanoff, has the criminals been put into their cells?" he asked, casually.

Natasha kept her eyes on him, even as she strolled deeper into the room and parked herself right in front of one of the monitor. "All safely locked away, General," Natasha replied, adopting a tone of voice similar to his own. "I stayed behind to make sure. The mutant with the red skin was a particular nasty one, General. I wouldn't want your task force to be collateral damage if he managed to get himself loose," she stated earnestly, her hands brushing the monitor. She quickly inserted the hard-drive and let her hand stayed there so to keep the device from being seen.

Natasha could sense the doubt in the other man but he maintained the façade of polite manners and nodded his head at her words. "You are nothing but diligent, Agent Romanoff."

She shrugged as if carelessly accepting the compliment while stealthily checking on the device. It was still red. "On that note, I should warn you that I find your guard asleep on the job just outside, General."

Before the general could reply, the door barged open forcefully and Natasha turned to see the very face she has spent hours trying to identify. This time, the man was garbed in a black tactical suit and he strode into the room as if he owned the place. "Are the mutants ready for transport?" he barked out without preamble and Natasha sneaked another look at the device. Noting that it was green, she pulled it off and slid it up her leather sleeve.

"Colonel Stryker," Ross exclaimed in a loud voice, quite possibly his way of alerting the visitor of Natasha's presence in the room. "Have you met Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha kept a steady face as the other man's deeply penetrating eyes landed on her. She watched as he tried to school his face into one of civility and stepped forward to offer him her hand. "No, we haven't," Natasha murmured. "It's a pleasure, Colonel."

The man shook her hand but his eyes turned to look at the general as if in reproach. "I wasn't expecting any of the Avengers here, General Ross," he stated in a mild voice, but Natasha could hear the warning beneath it.

Natasha knew immediately that her time was up. Keeping her eyes on the Colonel, she however directed her words to the other man. "I must take your leave now, General. Do give us a call if you have further need of the Avengers," she said, letting the sincerity drip in her words. Without another look at either of them, she calmly made her way out of the room.

* * *

Later that night, after a shower and a change of clothes, Natasha set out to look for Tony for update on what he found on the device. She stepped into his laboratory only to find Banner instead of Tony, stationed in front of the monitor.

"Anything yet?" Natasha enquired, taking a seat next to him. They hadn't had a moment to themselves since the plane ride to the prison and Natasha still felt awkward around the man.

He shook his head, his eyes on the screen. "Decrypting," he said, simply by way of explanation.

Natasha looked down on her hands, loathing the uneasy silence between them. "Bruce," she started, softly, "what I did in Sokovia…"

He maintained his silence and did not turn to look at her as he asked, "Are you sorry that you did it, Natasha? Or are you just sorry that you hurt me?"

She hesitated. "Does it matter which one?" she asked, instead.

This got her a snort of disbelief. One that got on Natasha's nerves, enough for her to bite out, "If you're asking me if I'd do it again if the circumstances called for it, then the answer is yes."

\- "Even knowing that you are forcing me into the fight? Saving the day by taking the decision off my hands?" Bruce countered, angrily.

"Look, all I ever know is this, Bruce. This life," she exclaimed, gesturing to the screen and their surrounding. "My life has been one endless missions. The difference between what I did then and what I do know is that this time this matters to me. Saving people matter to me, Bruce. If you knew what I had had to do in my past, you would have understood that."

Bruce stared hard at her. "And what about us? Back then? What of that? Was any of that real or was that Agent Romanoff on another special mission?"

Natasha looked away, finding herself unable to continue looking him in the eye. Bruce gave out a dry laugh and muttered, "You are a piece of work, aren't you?"

She kept her silence, her face stinging from his assessment of her character. For a while there was only silence in the room as the computer continued to decrypt the data. Then Bruce gave out a weary sigh and turned to look at her. "You're right about one thing, Natasha. You're just being you. And that person is the complete opposite of who I am and who I want to be. I do not choose this life, and after this is all over, I am going to disappear again and live the life that I want for myself," he said, his voice gradually losing all the earlier edge to it. "That's who we are and I suppose we shouldn't be made to feel bad about it."

Natasha looked up at him, trying to ask him the question she had tortured herself with but not daring to put words to. But he seemed to guess it anyway. He gave out another sigh then let out an unexpected chuckle. "Next time, try not pushing me off a cliff, okay?" he said, his tone indicating his forgiveness at her previous action.

\- "Yes, maybe sing him a song next time, to activate the other guy, kay? I'm sure there's a 'Hulk; The Incredible Hits' somewhere that you could refer to," Tony snarked as he strolled into the room, a cup of hot coffee in his hand. His head went back and forth between the two. "Are we all okay?" he continued. At Banner's eye-roll, he gestured to the monitor, "Then maybe we can focus on what's happening here?"

As soon as he said that, as if orchestrated by him, folders after folders started opening before them. Tony and Banner immediately forgot Natasha's existence and fully engrossed themselves in what they were seeing and reading.

"Wow," Tony breathed out, after a few more minutes of this and Natasha scowled at them.

"What is it?" Natasha demanded, watching as Bruce leaned back on his chair.

"This is some top shit mind-control operation they've got going here," Tony murmured in explanation. Natasha frowned, remembering the vacant faces of the X-Men prisoners.

"Who's 'they'?" Natasha asked, sharply.

"That man in the photo, Colonel William Stryker. The man has dedicated his whole life to the studies of mutants," Tony explained.

"This is the device they used," Bruce pointed out, bringing up an image of a transparent, rectangular object. "They placed it at the back of their necks. It also double act as a tracker so that they'll always be able to spot where they are. The brainwashing is triggered when they placed a finger on the device. I assume it reads fingerprints," he turned to Tony and the latter nodded his head.

Then as they went over the next folder, both of them sat stock-still. Natasha knew what they were going to say even before Tony turned to look at her, "They wanted Wanda. It's always been Wanda they wanted," he stated, grimly.

Bruce grimaced. "And when they realized they didn't stand a chance of catching her alive, the order changed to executing her. So as to prevent her from being able to stop them."

"Stop them from doing what?" Natasha asked, quietly.

Tony and Bruce both turned to look at her. "The suppression and control of all mutants," Tony answered.

"And the Avengers?" Natasha asked, her stomach turning as she waited for Tony's reply.

"We were to be the very tool with which they accomplish their goal," he answered.

It all fell into place now. The Sokovia Accords and their insistence that the Avengers stand by this agreement was all part of their plan. An agreement that would have labeled any superpowered refusing to sign as criminals, giving the task force the authority to catch and control them. It was worst than she could have thought.

Her eyes snapped open as she remembered another thing that has been nagging at the back of her mind ever since she saw the X Men kids that night. "Sharon Carter," she murmured, quietly. "She had the same vacant look on her face in that picture we had of her with Stryker. "

Tony grimaced. "Then it's high time we take up T'challa's offer and pay our fellow Avengers a visit."


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

"You sure this is going to work, Parker?" Natasha heard Tony asked as she quietly walked into the common room, her evening heels in her hand.

Peter looked up to give his reply when he caught sight of Natasha and promptly stopped talking. Puzzled, Tony and Thor who were both standing beside him also turned in her direction. Thor gave her a proud beam as Tony rolled his eyes in Peter's direction.

"That's some dress, Red," Tony grudgingly agreed.

Giving out an air of indifference, Natasha shrugged as she sat down on one of the chair to put on her heels. She wasn't going to admit that she had spent much too much time going over her selection of evening dresses to finally settle on the green evening dress made of sequined chiffon material that clung to her every curve. She certainly wasn't going to admit that she looked forward to this visit to Wakanda as much as she dreaded it.

As she got ready for the night ahead, her mind kept returning to the image of Steve and Sharon caught in that embrace. And no matter how many times she berated herself for feeling even an ounce of betrayal and suppressed anger, she could not help herself.

"I think you broke the Spiderman," Tony continued to tease the teenager who spluttered his protest, interrupting Natasha from her inner monologue.

"W..what, no disrespect, Natasha. I've just never seen you look so … ," he broke out, seemingly unable to find the right word. "I mean, you really look … nice, like a … -lady."

"Smooth, kid," Tony teased, drily.

Natasha gave Tony a look, one that the other man ignored. "Heed him not, Natasha. You appear queenly in that garment," Thor gave his stamp of approval.

Natasha flashed him an appreciative smile then flipped the thigh-high slit to slip in one of her many blades.

"Bet you don't know many ladies that carry as much weapons as this one does, huh, kid?" Tony enquired with a laugh.

Once again Natasha ignored the man and instead addressed Peter. "Thanks, Parker. You were saying about the device," she prodded, gesturing to the small remote he held in his hands.

Peter looked down as if only then realizing he was still holding on to the device and promptly handed it to Tony. "Here, man. Remember, I've encoded the programme to basically kill the switch on Sharon Carter's device. All you need to do is press the button."

"And she's brainwash-free?" Tony asked.

Peter shrugged. "The whole thing was rigged to recognize a certain set of fingerprint. All I did was to create something that will over-ride that."

"He says modestly," Tony slapped the boy on his shoulder then looked up as Banner walked in dressed in his evening wear. "Now that we're all here, let's get this show on the road," he announced.

Natasha stood up and made to follow Tony and Banner out the door but Thor hesitated where he stood. "Why isn't Peter joining us? He is as much an Avenger as we all are and equally deserving of a feast at King Wakanda's behest," he argued, gesturing to the boy.

"You guys go on ahead without me. I have to be home soon anyway. I only stayed to hand over the decoder," Peter replied, with a shrug. At Thor's continued look of befuddlement, Peter shrugged sheepishly, "I can't go, Thor. It's a school night."

* * *

Natasha felt her stomach twisting into a knot as they were escorted down the massive hallway into the Great Hall. She felt her heart raced as she caught sight of Steve standing beside Tchalla and she felt a smile forming on her face despite herself. The smile gradually slipped off as she noted the person standing next to him was none other than Sharon Carter. Determined not to show the sudden pain she felt at the beautiful picture the two made, she turned the whole force of her smile towards Tchalla.

"The Avengers," Tchalla exclaimed in greeting as they reached his side. "Welcome to my humble abode," he greeted, politely.

Natasha stepped forward and offered up her hand for the man to shake. Instead Tchalla lifted her hand and gave it a polite kiss. "Natasha, I am honoured you have accepted my invitation for a visit," he said to her.

"The pleasure is all mine, your highness," Natasha replied, adding extra warmth into her tone, still refusing to look at Steve even when she felt his eyes on her.

"Ah captain, your person has been sorely missed," Thor announced, pulling the other man into a bear hug. Steve gave out a laugh and clapped him on his shoulders. "It's great to see you too, Thor!" he replied, warmly.

Tony and Banner too exchanged stilted greetings with Steve before he pointedly turned to her. "Nat," he said quietly, trying to catch her eyes.

Natasha flashed him a quick smile before slapping his shoulder, awkwardly. "Hey, Cap." Determined to keep some distance between then, Natasha took Tchalla's proffered arm and allowed him to escort her into the hall.

"Your palace is beautiful, Tchalla," Natasha murmured, trying to ignore the hurt look in Steve's eyes as she walked past him.

"Thank you, Natasha. It was built many thousands of years ago. Every generation of Wakanda ruler since then has expanded on the palace, gradually allowing it to become more and more technologically advanced," Tchalla shared as he led her to the huge table before them. Before he could help her into the seat next to his, Natasha was greeted by Clint and Sam, both seemingly glad to see her.

She gave each of them a warm hug but to Clint she whispered, "Thanks, Barton. I owe you one."

Clint let out a snort. "Think again, girl. You owe me big-time," he stated, as he slid into the seat next to her.

The rest of them began to seat themselves too and Natasha took note that Steve sat at the other end of the huge table, with Sharon to her left and Sam to his right. Thor, Tony and Banner filled in the seats in the middle of the table.

By tacit agreement, they had all decided not to discuss matters of dire importance. Talks of Sokovia Accords, the growing darkness of the task force, the issue of the mutants and even the fate of Wanda was surreptitiously set aside in favour of discussions of Wakanda and its merits. Natasha paid particular attention to Tchalla, listening avidly as he regaled her with the history of his kingdom. She made extra effort to be entertaining and soon had Tchalla laughing with her.

Increasingly she felt the weight of Steve's eyes on her but refused to budge from her plan to minimize her contact with the man. During one of the breaks in her conversation with Tchalla as he turned to give instructions to his manservant, Clint leaned in to her. "Hey, _Matahari,_ you might wanna tone it down a notch. The last thing we need is for Steve to be kicked out of Wakanda for attempting to manhandle their king," he hissed at her, drily.

Natasha took a sip of her wine and avoided his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, dismissively.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. _Tone it down_ ," Clint repeated, under his breath.

Natasha turned to give Clint a piece of her mind but locked eyes with Steve instead. His face was dark as he arched an eyebrow at her, even as Sharon and Sam both attempted to involve him in their conversations. Natasha quickly looked away, not wanting him to see more than she wanted him to the longer their eyes stayed locked.

But Natasha heeded Clint's advice and spent the rest of the evening parceling her attention between Tchalla and the larger group at the table. After the last of the scrumptious dinner had been consumed, Tchalla ushered the group into a smaller room besides the hall to allow them to discuss more relevant matters.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Steve immediately turned to Tony. "What are you going to do about those imprisoned kids?"

Instead of answering, Tony sent a meaningful look towards Natasha, one that she chose to ignore for the moment as she calmly took the seat next to Sharon. "Look, Cap, there are a lot of things to catch up on. But first we must address the leak in information from your side. How do we know what we discuss here is not going to end up on General Ross's reports?"

Tchalla nodded and gestured for both men to take a seat. Tony sat himself across from Natasha while Steve elected to stand by the fireplace. Leaning his body against the wall, he folded his arms and sent a hard look Tony's way. "And exactly how do you suggest we find the leak? Coz I won't have you accusing people and breaking up my team."

Natasha's jaw clenched as she heard the emphasis on his team, as if implying that she, Tony, Thor and Banner weren't. She refused, however to be included in the discussion for now, allowing Tony to take the lead.

"Cap, calm down, don't forget we're on the same side here," Banner interjected.

At this Sharon let out a dry laugh beside her. "Didn't feel like it at the prison," she retorted.

Tony and Natasha shared a look, and he gave a tiny nod of his head as a signal. Swiftly, before anyone could stop her, Natasha pulled a blade from her clutch and held it to Sharon Carter's throat. Sharon gave out a cry, pushing the blade even further in. "Don't move," Natasha warned her.

Steve jumped to his feet. "What the hell?" he cried out but Clint shot up from his feet and proceeded to hold him back. Tony rushed to the back of Sharon's seat and leaned forward to sweep back Sharon's blonde hair.

"Steve!" Sharon pleaded with the man to help her.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, urgently even as he struggled to release Clint's hold on him. Thor stood up to give Clint some help.

"Cap, you've gotta trust us on this," Tony said, locking eyes with the man he has had such a difficult relationship with before and after the Sokovia Accords. "Do you trust us?"

Natasha looked up and watched the warring emotions on Steve's face. His eyes moved from Tony to land on her. After a second, he gave his head a reluctant nod. Taking this as cue, Tony leaned forward once more to bare Sharon Carter's neck. Natasha turned to the side to look and saw nothing at the back of Sharon's neck.

"Tony," Natasha said in a warning whisper.

Tony shook his head, using his other hand to take out the small decoder Peter had prepared for the situation. "It's transparent, remember," he reminded her then pressed the button. Now a rectangular shape started forming where there was none before. Tony pressed it another time and a red light started blinking three times before the whole thing disappeared once again with a loud ping.

"Is that it?" Natasha asked, quietly. Tony nodded his head and she quickly released her hold on the other woman. Upon her release, Sharon jumped out of her seat and rushed to Steve's side.

"Are you ok?" Steve asked, urgently, grabbing her arms to peruse her closely. The woman nodded her head but refused to look at anyone other than Steve.

There was now quiet in the room as Tony straightened up then proceeded to take the seat recently vacated by Sharon, next to Natasha who was avoiding to look at the tender scene enfolding before her.

"Mind sharing what you just did back there?" Steve asked quietly, pushing Sharon to his back as if unconsciously trying to protect her from them.

"We've just switched off the leak, Cap," Tony stated, simply, crossing his legs and looking calmly up to Steve.

At first there was disbelief in his face as he turned to face Sharon. He shook his head slowly as he lifted his eyes to the woman before her. "What?" he asked, softly.

Natasha could not bear to watch the betrayed look on his face. "It's not her, Rogers. They got to her and have been controlling her mind," she said, quietly and Steve turned to look at her.

He shook his head as realization seeped in. "But Wanda…," he started, hoarsely, taking a few steps away from a now distraught Sharon.

"Wanda's alive, Cap," Tony announced and Steve whipped his head quickly to first stare at him then to Natasha. "We don't know how. At this point we can only speculate. But we've got it in print. Wanda made it out of the morgue on her own two feet," Tony continued.

In her attempt to block whatever connection there had been between them, Natasha kept her eyes away from his. As such she could only hear and not see as Steve stumbled backwards and carelessly sat himself down at one of the vacant armchairs.

"Look, I know this is must be a shock to you and the others," Banner began.

\- "But you held a memorial," Clint argued, equally as shocked as Steve.

"We wanted to get the task force off her back," said Tony.

Clint sat down next to Steve, a stunned but increasingly relieved look on his face. There was a moment of silent where the other group digested the news. Sharon, however, continued to stand where she was, her body beginning to shake. Steve, as if belatedly aware of her, stood up and gave her arm a comforting grip.

"Sharon, why don't you take a seat? This is must be terrible for you," he said, quietly. Sharon nodded her head and let herself be maneuvered into sitting next to him, right between Clint and Steve.

"How… Who did this to me?" Sharon cried out finally, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

Tony whipped out his phone and brought up an image of William Stryker. "Do you know this man?"

Sharon leaned forward to look and her eyes lit up in recognition. "Yes, yes, he came to see me a few days after Aunt Peggy's funeral. Claimed to be one of my aunt's financial consultants. He said he wanted to discuss one of Aunt Peggy's assets."

"That man is Colonel William Stryker. He has been heading an underground organization focusing largely on the issues of mutants. And he's been doing this for decades, experimenting on what weak mutants he managed to get his hands on," Tony explained. "He must have installed that device on you that first time you met."

Clint, Steve and Sam all wore identical looks of confusion. Tony looked at each of them and grimaced. "We've been played. We don't know how deep it goes. Ross was in on it for certain. The UN was probably as much a tool as we were," Tony recapped.

"So what's their end game?" Clint asked.

Natasha exchanged looks with Tony, Banner and Thor. "Stryker has shown both revulsion and fear for mutants since day one. From what we could surmise from stolen data, it seems his aim is to rectify the situation by putting powerful mutants under his control." Natasha gestured to Sharon, "The same thing that's on Sharon's neck right now? They've been putting on all the mutants under capture. And all this under the guise of upholding the Sokovia Accords," she finished, grimly.

"What do we do now?" Steve asked, eyes darting from Tony to Natasha.

"They don't know we're on to them," Tony replied. "They don't know we've found a way to nullify the effects of their brainwashing device."

Clint leaned backed in his seat and slowly grinned. "A little misdirection in order?"

"How good of an actress are you?" Tony directed his enquiry to Sharon Carter.

"Good enough to fool Steve and I into believing she's nothing but a nurse for a full year," Natasha broke in with a dry laugh. She gestured at Sharon, "She's a former SHIELD agent, Stark. She can do it."

* * *

About an hour later, Tony led the way to the jet craft. The sounds of approaching footsteps, however, stopped them and they turned around to see Steve approaching, his eyes furiously fixed on Natasha. "Natasha," he called out, pinning her to the spot with his eyes.

"I don't think we're invited to this particular conversation, gentlemen," Tony retorted, flashing knowing eyes in Natasha's direction before continuing on with a shrug. Bruce too had the same knowing look in his eyes as he squeezed her shoulder before making a move to climb the plane. Thor hesitated but upon noting the deepening scowl on Steve's face gave Natasha a reassuring look before following the other two into the plane.

"What's going on?" Steve asked. His voice was low but Natasha could see from the darkening of his features that he was furious. Which was fine because as it turns out, she was just as –if not more- furious at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she bit out.

"You barely said a word to me the entire night!" he pointed out, folding his arms and frowning at her.

"I was seated at the other end of the table! Should I have been yelling things to you over the length of the table and ignoring everyone else?"

He leaned forward. "Then maybe start with why you were seated at the other end of the table."

"Because I was showing Tchalla the proper attention in return for him inviting us over for dinner?" Even in her furious state, Natasha realized this was starting to get ridiculous. "Seriously, is there a point to all of this?"

Steve started to say something then stopped himself, raking a hand through his hair in a show of frustration. "I don't know! It's just… this is not what we do. _This,"_ he emphasis this with a sweeping of his arm gesturing to the distance between him and Natasha, "is not us."

"Oh, really?" Natasha replied, archly. "Then do tell me, what are we?"

This seemed to stop Steve in his tracks, as Natasha knew it would. His body stilled as his eyes probed hers as if trying to find the answer there.

"Can't find an answer to that one, can you?" she bit out, sharply, letting some of her anger show. At his continued silence, Natasha rolled her eyes and made a move to leave. "Do let me know when you've figured it out. After all it's only been what? – one, two months since the last time we saw each other and you've been sufficiently busy sucking face with Sharon Carter in the meantime to ponder such inconsequential questions." Recognizing that she has now fully step into petty area and not wanting to stay and find out how Steve would react to this, Natasha quickly turned around to once more head for the plane.

But Steve was quicker. He took one step in her direction, grabbed her arm and swiftly turned her back around to face him. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"Language, Cap," Natasha retorted insolently instead, not finding any words to say that would not make her sound any crazier than she probably already did.

If anything, Steve's face darkened even more at that. "Explain yourself, Romanoff."

"I thought I was pretty clear."

"Is that what this is all about?" Steve asked, incredulously. "You're jealous of Sharon?"

If she had anything bigger than her dressy clutch in her hand, she would have thrown it at him at that moment. Instead, she threw him a pointed glare and once again turned around to leave.

And again, Steve grabbed her arm to turn her to him. But this time, he did not let go of her arm. "Nat, wait, I'm sorry. Talk to me, please."

Refusing to acknowledge the effect the hand on his arm and the strength of his eyes had on her, she instead focused her eyes on the ground. For a moment she was tempted to resort to mulishness and not say anything. But even while she was thinking this, her mouth opened as if having a will of its own. "You kissed Sharon," she said, quietly.

There was silence from Steve and when she looked up there was such a look of pain on his face that she felt her heart give a twist. Why was she doing this? This was so far from what she wanted to do that she suddenly felt ashamed of her actions tonight. Why was she punishing him for an act that to be completely honest had absolutely nothing to do with her. She doesn't own him and has no right to be angry. She shook her head. "You know what, forget I said that, Steve. It's none of my business who you spend your time with. And Sharon's a perfectly nice girl. I mean, hey, who was the one who told you to call her in the first place, right?" she said, mustering up a weak smile to convince him she was sincere.

"Don't," he said, suddenly. Alarmed at the quiet intensity in that one word, Natasha lifted her eyes to his and felt a hitch in her breathing at the look in his eyes. She frowned as she watched him clench his jaw as if fighting back anger. What exactly does he have to be angry about?

"Do not say things like that when you don't know," he said, quietly.

"W..What?" Natasha stammered.

"You have no idea, Natasha. You have no idea how scary it has been for me to worry everyday that today would be the day that I say something stupid that would make you run away."

She scoffed at that. "No, Steve, I was not the one who run away. You did, _you_ left and _you_ chose Sharon that day in Berlin!"

"Fine, yes! Sharon is every bit the girl that I would probably have ended up with in 1945. She's warm, she's strong, and she is uncomplicated. But here's something that people don't really get about me yet. I am not that same person who flew that plane into that icy water. I came out of the ice a different man, Nat."

Natasha opened her mouth to bring him back to what happened to Berlin but his grip on her arm tightened, effectively silencing.

"No, let me finish. Yes, Sharon would have been perfect for the man I was in '45 but then I met you. You who from the first time we met seemed so engulfed in darkness yet I watch you try so hard to find the light in everything you do. You who tease and smirk and flirt, then willingly lay down your life when someone you care about is harmed. You who weave lies and secrecy so intricately that no one can tell the truth from the lie yet can stand so tough and so unswervingly beside me even when you don't see things the same way I do. So yes, I wanted Sharon in Berlin for a split second right after you looked me in the eye and told me you agreed with Tony. But you I have wanted for much longer, ever since you jumped on my shield without even a hint of fear. But I know you enough to know that if I so much as hint this to you, you would run so fast I would probably never see you again. Am I wrong, Natasha?"

Natasha was left speechless at the depth of his understanding of who she was, right down to what she would have done. And he was absolutely right too. Had he said anything like this a few months ago, she would have packed up and gone. And even now, a part of her still itched to fight his hold on her and go back to the way she has always lived her life. Alone, with nothing to fetter her to anything. But the thing was he was not the only who has been changed. Natasha, too, was no longer that same person who can hide behind lies and make them appear truths to different people. She no longer lived in shadows, trying very hard not leave imprints in other people's lives so that she will never be remembered, never be recognized, never be made. And most importantly, she never wanted to be that person again, at least not with Steve Rogers. And suddenly, with this revelation all the anger and uncertainty she felt melted away.

She looked up at him and stepped closer, her heart racing at the hopeful look in his face. "You are not wrong, Steve. I would have run," she said, softly.

"Would have?" he repeated, probing her.

She nodded her head, eyes looking deep into his and she let a soft smile formed on her lips. One only meant for him. "Post-ice Steve Rogers need help differentiating between past and present tenses?" she teased.

She watched as a grin started to spread on his face, dispelling all the tension and anger previously etched there that night. "No, ma'am. I think I got this one," he said before pulling her in closer, close enough that their noses touched. "But I would prefer to hear the words just in case," he whispered, lips almost meeting hers.

"Okay," Natasha said, breathlessly. She bit her lip, looked up into her eyes. "I'm not going to run."

At her words, Steve threw his head back and started to laugh. "Not exactly the words I was aiming for. But I guess that will do. For now."

She opened her mouth to make another retort but with a shake of his head, Steve finally closed the distance between them and pulled her lips in a deep kiss. His hand snaked to cup the back of her head and pulled her in deeper. "But I feel obligated to warn you that even if you do – run, that is, this time I can't promise I'll let you."

She nodded her head, fully understanding what he was saying. And finding absolutely no problem with that as she leaned in for another kiss.


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

In the end it was unanimous. If this was going to be the showdown they plan it to be then they all decided it should take place at the prison. At the place where most of them had been locked up for their stand against the Sokovia Accords and for their loyalty to Steve. The place where the two sides of the Avengers had gone for round two and lost Wanda and Vision.

Barely a day after the Avengers' visit to Wakanda and Sharon found herself approached by a random man posing as a Wakandan guard. Clint had an eagle's eye view of the whole thing going down and true to Natasha's words, Sharon played the brainwashed informer role beautifully. It was to this prison that she had directed them. A supposedly rescue attempt number two that was actually meant to draw General Ross troops out into the open and better yet Stryker's band of brain-washed mutants.

Clint turned around, feeling a hand on his shoulder. "Have I ever thanked you for sticking with me all this time, Barton?" It was Steve garbed in his Captain America suit down to the new shield Tchalla has designed for him to replace the one he had left behind with Stark on their last fight in that Russian bunker.

"No need to sound like this is gonna be our last fight, Cap. I do plan to keep seeing your pretty face around. 'Specially now that you and Nat have stopped being idiots." It was probably a good thing that the Captain America's mask keeps his face hidden at that moment, Clint thought with an amused smile.

"To be fair, a case can be argued that Nat's the bigger idiot. I at least know how I feel about her," Steve said, a hint of a grin on his face.

"A case _can_ be argued, but not by anyone wanting to keep all their limbs intact," Clint said with dry chuckle.

Their light moment was put on hold with the arrival of Tchalla, Sam and Sharon, all three in their suits. The levity immediately left Clint as he took turn studying the others. If everything goes to plan, this would be the last of their days as fugitives. On the other hand, even if everything goes to plan, they still might not all make it out alive. And from the solemn faces on the other four, Clint knew they were all thinking the same thing.

At that same instance, the sound of marching boots commenced and Clint watched as lines and lines of men dressed for war poured out of the door of the prison. Above them, three choppers brought in sniper units to the tower of the prisons.

A loud voice boomed out from the vicinity of inside the walls. "Steve Rogers, you and your men are now surrounded. You will not escape this place unharmed. For the sake of those good men standing beside you, we advise you to make the right choice. Stand down, Captain." It was General Ross.

Clint gave a nod in answer to Steve's questioning look and broke out into a grin at Steve's reply. "With all due respect, General. We can do this all day."

"They've got Fantastic Four late last night," Tony announced solemnly. Natasha looked up from her act of cleaning her guns to frown at the news.

"Thing too?" she asked him, quietly and felt her heart sink at Tony's nod.

"For people who've been deep inside Southeast Asian rainforests and Asgard, can we have that again but with a lot more context this time?" Banner asked, turning his attention from looking out the window at the clouds to the other Avengers in their suits.

"Four superheroes, Mr Hu..-Banner. Definitely good guys. Powerful good guys too. They surfaced not long after you guys fought Ultron in Sokovia," Peter piped in. "Mr Plastic, Invisible Girl, the Human Torch and Thing."

"Thing?" Thor asked, dubiously.

"Yup," Tony said, sounding the p. "Imagine Banner's Other Guy but replace it with rocks for fists. Well one solid block of rock with arms and legs, to be precise. Not something we would want to face especially in brainwash-mode."

"We facing them?" Natasha asked, almost casually.

Tony stood and gave each of them meaningful looks. "Ross called us in," he stated, folding his iron-clad arms. "Want our help putting the fugitive Avengers down."

Thor gave Mjolnir a couple menacing swings. "Indeed we will."

The troops came to a sudden stop a few feet from where Clint stood alongside Steve, Sam, Sharon and Tchalla. They moved into combat position, merely waiting for the call from General Ross to start attacking.

"We're a little outnumbered here, Steve," Sharon said in a measured tone.

Just as soon as she said that, the Avengers plane came into view.

General Ross boomed out once again. "The Avengers will be here momentarily. Last call to surrender, Captain."

Clint squinted his eyes against the glare of the sun. He felt Steve tightened up beside him as they all watched the figures of Natasha, Tony, Thor, Banner and Peter Parker striding towards them.

"Cap," Tony greeted behind his iron mask. "You've been duly notified to surrender?"

Steve nodded his head, grimly. "Message received, Tony. Loud and clear."

"Then nothing else left to do but fight," Tony said with a shrug. With these words, he marched forward to where Clint stood and decisively turned around to face the lines of armed men. Similarly, the rest of the Avengers too took position alongside their former teammates. Natasha stationed herself firmly between Steve and Clint.

Immediately General Ross stepped out from his previously secured position within the prison walls. "Tony Stark," he boomed into the bullhorn. "What is the meaning of this?"

Tony faked an innocent shrug. "Oh, I thought it's pretty clear? We Avengers are sticking together."

"Those men are criminals who broke the Sokovia Accords. Do you really mean to stand by such men?"

Again Tony made a production of looking at Clint then let his eyes move to Steve and then the rest down the line. "All I see are men who have bled to keep the public safe time and time again, General. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one."

There was ominous silence from the General. His answering reply came in the sound of the soldiers readying their guns.

Beside her, Natasha felt Steve looking at her and she turned to meet his eyes. "Are you sure about this?" Steve asked her and she knew by 'this' he meant choosing to fight with him against the task force.

Shrugging lightly, she shot him a teasing look and smirked. "Yeah. It's gonna be fun." And laughed at the answering grin on Steve's face, hoping fervently that this would not be the last time she would laugh this day.

And the fight begun.

Thor's hammer dealt the first damage to the army of men, striking it down hard to the ground and the force of the electrical current was enough to bring a horde of armed men down. Hawkeye, with the help of Falcon's wings, was quick to position himself at a vantage point and between them quickly took the snipers out. He knew Falcon, like him, felt the strain in trying to pull back their punches when taking care of the snipers, considering these were the groups that had rained bullets down Wanda's body. But Steve had been very clear in his reminder en route to the prison. Minimize casualties; avoid another Sokovia at all cost.

Clint looked down just in time to catch the man swiftly pulling Natasha behind his shield as a group of men targeted their guns on them. "Well, that won't do at all," he murmured under his breath and skillfully let loose a couple of arrows at the men. And laughed under his breath as Natasha slid out from behind the shield to take care of the remaining soldiers.

Spiderman was fighting alongside Agent 13 and Clint had to admire the skills on the kid, webs and all. Sharon, too, was pulling her weight, taking down three surrounding men without breaking a sweat. There certainly is a future for that one in the Avengers, if things don't get too weird between her and Steve.

The fight was certainly going in their favour. All this even before Banner turned into the other guy. Ironman alone was taking many of the second and third waves of men. And so far they were doing well on the minimal casualties deal.

Then the door to the prison exploded and out marched the most intimidating looking bunch of superheroes/super villains, all made worst by the vacant looks on their faces.

Clint knew from here on now shit just got real.

"Steve, I swear you pull me in behind that shield one more time, I'm going to take it from you and let Hulk play frisbee with it!" Natasha snapped, not altogether in an unaffectionate tone as she swiftly threw an elbow in one soldier's face even as she shot at the leg of another.

"Those are very real bullets flying around you, Nat," Steve said with a grimace, throwing the object of Natasha's contention at a group of nearby soldiers.

"No shit, Cap? And here I thought these are just Nerf bullets," she laid on the sarcasm as she did a power run and flung a flying kick into the chest of a heavy-set man. As soon as the man was down, she kicked away his rifle and turned back to give Steve a fierce look. "Stop trying to shield me and focus on your fight!"

From the furious look Steve threw her way, she knew she was in for an earful. But before he could say anything, there was an explosion and the prison door flung out to reveal the imprisoned mutants. There were the three X-Men, Fantastic Four as well as Azazel, Psylocke and Pyro. And they were all armed in combat gears.

Natasha locked eyes with Steve. "That red one is a mean son-of-a-bitch, Cap. Gotta keep on your toes for this."

Not long after she said this, Pylocke moved the blocks of fallen debris from the last fight with her telekinetic powers and Natasha quickly dove behind Steve's shield to avoid the suddenly raining stone blocks.

"Shit, these are very powerful mutants, Steve," Natasha muttered under her breath as she watched Banner charge into the Thing, turning into the other guy midway.

"And we're the Avengers, Nat," Steve reminded her, gave her arm a quick squeeze before charging forward himself to take on two members of the Fantastic Four, Ironman giving him some air support.

Natasha grimaced, took quick note of the fight ahead of her and quickly narrowed her focus on Psylocke. The mutant fights skillfully with her dual swords and has the added advantage of telekinesis. But Natasha has never backed down from a job before and she kept this in mind as she sprinted to take the woman by surprise.

Her instincts were however just as finely-honed as Natasha's and she had to quickly bend her body backward to avoid Psylocke's thrust of her pink, glowing sword. Her reply was a hard kick that succeeded in disarming one of Psylocke's sword and she followed this with another kick to the woman's knee, bringing her down with a loud accompanying howl. Before Natasha could celebrate what she thought as her victory, however, she caught one of the female X-Men sprinting towards her. She braced herself for the impending hit but was wholly unprepared for the force of Rogue's kick, sending her hurtling in the air before her body smashed against one of the walls of the prison.

"Fuck," she muttered, feeling blood in her mouth from the impact her head made against the wall. To her momentary relief, Spiderman had taken over her fight and was more than a match for Rogue's super strength. But the scant moment she took to take stock of the fight before her turned her relief into deep alarm. At one side Steve and Ironman were barely holding up their fight with Mr Pastic and Invisible Girl. The blonde in particular was using good use of her powers to keep shielding herself and Mr Plastic from the worst of Ironman's fire power. Hawkeye had made his way to ground level and was rapidly moving to avoid the showers of ice from Iceman. In the middle was where the fiercest battle was going on as Falcon hurried over to give Thor and Hulk air support against Azazel and the Thing. Sharon, Natasha noted with growing concern was already down for the count though she was relieved to see she was still breathing.

Trying very hard to bury the pain down, Natasha made it to her feet and readied herself to join the fight again. She quickly made her way to where Rogue was beating punches into Spiderman and quickly attacked her from behind. Unlike the mutant, Natasha had no super strength to boast of but she has been trained on specific parts of the body that can exact the most pain. She quickly landed several blows to the plexus in the pit of her opponent's stomach and Rogue collapsed in a heap on the ground. She barely glanced to check on Spiderman before she saw Psyclocke jumping in her direction, her sword thrusting out. Natasha threw her body down and tried to spin away but let out a scream of agony as the sword pierced her side. At the corner of her eyes she watched as Steve turned at the sound of her pain. Taking this opening, Mr Plastic swiftly threw a punch to the side of Steve's head and Natasha watched in horror as Steve went down.

From then on out, the fight become more or less a blur to Natasha as she tried to hold on to consciousness through the pain. Beside her Spiderman had managed to completely immobilize Psylocke with his special web. Ignoring the woman, he kneeled down to check on Natasha's wounds. "Natasha, this is very deep. You shouldn't…" Natasha shook her head, urgently, and pointed where Steve was slowly getting to his feet.

\- "I'll be fine," she cut in. "Go help Steve!"

Peter spared her a doubtful look but at her insistent push quickly sprinted way to give Steve and Ironman some much-needed back up as Pyro had now entered the fight as well.

Another cry of pain rang in the air and Natasha watched helplessly as the Thing caught Falcon in his fist and effectively smashed him against the surrounding wall. So that was another Avenger down. Hawkeye on the other hand managed to get an arrow into Iceman but not before Shadowcat phased him into the solid pavement, effectively immobilizing him for the rest of the fight.

"Shit, shit, shit," Natasha cursed as she realized that they were now merely down to Steve, Spiderman, Ironman, Thor and the Hulk. Just as she was thinking this, a loud booming crash caused her to whip her head around just in time to see the Hulk on his knees and slowly turning to Banner as he lost consciousness. It appeared that the combined effort of both Azazel and Thing had been just the right force to bring the other guy down. It was right at that moment that Natasha knew that there was no way that any of them of was going to walk out of this fight. Instead of paralyzing her with fear, the thought sufficiently numbed her enough to make her slowly get up to her feet.

But Natasha wasn't the only one keeping an eye out on the fight. She watched in growing horror as Steve's attempt to get to her side was intercepted by the Human Torch who quickly set himself on fire and sent waves after waves of fire bolts in Steve's direction.

"No!" Natasha screamed.

But the fire never reached Steve. Instead a wave of familiar red energy pushed hard against the fire and it ricochet back to its source. Sure enough the familiar beloved figure of Wanda jumped to stand between Steve and the Human Torch and right beside her stood Vision.


End file.
